Minna Weizmann Minna Weizmann Minna Weizmann (1889–?) was a Russian Jewish doctor who served in Syria and Palestine during World War I. Weizmann also served as a spy for Germany. Weizmann was born in present-day Motal, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire) to a prominent family. Her parents were Oizer and Rachel Czermerinsky Weizmann. Weizmann's most famous sibling was Chaim Weizmann, the President of Zionist Organization and the first President of Israel. Weizmann attended medical school in Berlin. She was a socialist who hated the czarist government. In 1913, she immigrated to Palestine, where she became one of the few female
President of Israel and journalist; and Chaim Herzog was a military leader, attorney, and diplomat. The first Israeli presidents were born in the former Russian Empire, which was true of much of the leadership in the early days of the state. The first native-born president, as well as the first with a Sephardi background, was Yitzhak Navon. The first president with a Western European background was Chaim Herzog, who originally came from Belfast, United Kingdom. The first president with a Mizrahi background was Moshe Katsav, who was born in Iran. All Israeli presidents from Yitzhak Ben-Zvi to Ezer Weizman were members of, or