Former Israeli defense minister, Labor party chief dies at 80

Former Israeli Defense Minister and ex-chief of the Labor party Benjamin Ben Eliezer died at the age of 80 on Sunday, an Israeli hospital said.

The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center released a statement to the press on Sunday announcing the demise of Ben Eliezer, a longtime Israeli left-wing politician who got recently entangled in bribery allegations.

Israel's channel 2 news reported over the weekend that the former Labor lawmaker, who retired from politics due to poor health in 2014, was hospitalized with an uncertain heart condition.

He was hospitalized two weeks ago for recurring kidney issues (he underwent a kidney transplant in December 2014) and was suspected to have suffered a stroke earlier in July, according to the Times of Israel website.

Ben-Eliezer, known in Israel by his nickname "Fuad," entered the Israeli parliament in 1984 and held several ministerial posts, including the minister of industry, trade and labor, minister of defense and deputy prime minister.

The deceased lawmaker served as head of the Israeli labor party in 2001 and 2002, and was on the shortlist of candidates in the 2014 presidential race.

He was indicted by the end of 2014 with bribery charges, allegedly receiving more than two million shekels (over 600,000 U.S. dollars) from businessmen in exchange for advancing their causes.

Authorities also accused the lawmaker of receiving foreign currency worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and hiding it without reporting it to the tax authority. Endit