Chaim Herzog was born in Belfast in 1918. He came from the small Belfast Jewish community, then moved to Dublin where he grew up. He had a varied life: he studied law in London, practised as a lawyer, joined the British army, became an intelligence officer and was involved in the liberation of Belsen concentration camp during World War 2. In 1981, as a member of the Israeli Labour Party, Chaim Herzog was elected to the Israeli parliament. Two years later he was nominated as president and held the post until 1993.