Netanyahu: “Kadishai was loyal to the values of the nation, and ready to take on any task assigned to him."
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFYEHIEL KADISHAI 370(photo credit: Prime Minister’s Office)
Yehiel Kadishai, confidante and chief of staff of late prime minister Menachem Begin, died of a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 90.Kadishai was born in 1923 in Poland and arrived in Israel with his family in the same year. He grew up in Tel Aviv and was raised on the values of Ze’ev Jabotinsky and the Betar movement.During World War II, he was enlisted in the British army. As part of his service, he was sent to aid Holocaust survivors.In 1964, he became secretary of the Herut movement. In 1977, he became chief of staff in the newly elected Likud government. He retired from political life six years later.In the latest elections to the Knesset, he was placed last in the Likud-Beytenu list.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu eulogized Kadishai on Saturday night, saying, “Yehiel was modest, smart, witty and wholeheartedly dedicated to the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. He was a symbol of love of the homeland and the readiness for self-sacrifice for its sake. I met him just two months ago, and we talked about the central role that it played in his years as chief of staff under the late Menachem Begin. He accompanied Menachem Begin, may his memory be blessed, all the way – in the political wilderness and in leadership of the state – and assisted him wisely and with immeasurable dedication.“Kadishai... was loyal to the values of the nation, and ready to take on any task assigned to him. Yehiel had a Jewish soul and a warm heart. Everyone loved him, and rightly so.”
