Background
Weiss was born in Borysław, Poland (since 1945 Boryslav, Ukraine) into a Polish Jewish family to Gienia and Meir Wolf Weiss.
Diplomat educationist politician speaker university professor author
Weiss was born in Borysław, Poland (since 1945 Boryslav, Ukraine) into a Polish Jewish family to Gienia and Meir Wolf Weiss.
He graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a Bachelor in International Relations in 1961, before doing an Master of Arts in political Science and contemporary Jewish studies and then a Doctor of Philosophy.
He was rescued by Ukrainians and Poles during the German occupation of Poland. As a Holocaust survivor, he migrated to Palestine in 1947. In 1975 he became a professor at the University of Haifa.
Between 1988 and 1992, he served as a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and between 1992 and 1996 as Speaker.
He lost his seat in the 1999 elections. In 2000 he became a president of the Yad Vashem Council.
From 2001 to 2003, he served as an Israeli ambassador in Poland. From 2011, Weiss publish essays for Polish weekly newsmagazine Uważam Rze.
Weiss speaks Hebrew, Yiddish, Polish, Russian and English.
He served as a member of the board of the Haifa municipality between 1969 and 1981, when he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Alignment.