Former Health Minister, Israel Bonds CEO Yehoshua Matza dies aged 89
Former Lehi member was "a Jerusalemite at heart and soul," PM Netanyahu says


Former Health Minister and State of Israel Bonds CEO Yehoshua Matza passed away Wednesday, according to his family.
During his time as a lawmaker, Matza was a key figure in legislating Israel's Basic Law enshrining Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. He was a member of the Jerusalem city council for 20 years and served as deputy mayor of the city in the '70s.
“My acquaintance with Yehoshua - a Jerusalemite at heart and soul - began decades ago,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appointed him as health minister.
"I knew about Yehoshua's activity, as a teenager, in the Lehi underground before the establishment of the state," Netanyahu said, referring to the pre-state Jewish paramilitary group also known pejoratively as the Stern Gang - named after its founder Abraham Stern.
"He even participated in the [1948] War of Independence," he added. "The love of man, the nation and the land pulsated in him forcefully."
President Reuven Rivlin called Matza a friend whom he would miss. "I will always carry his memory with me," he said.
Matza served as a Likud lawmaker for 18 years, starting in 1984, and as health minister from 1996 to 1999. He was elected CEO of the Israel Bonds organization in 2002, resigning as a member of parliament to take the position.
Matza's funeral will take place Thursday at 3 pm.