Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, 68, the IDF's 15th Chief of Staff and a former government minister, is hospitalized in Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in very serious condition, according to daily newspaper Israel Hayom.

Lipkin-Shahak received the IDF Citation of Valor twice for courage on the field of battle.

Before his appointment as Chief of Staff in 1995, Lipkin-Shahak issued a public statement according to which he had been ill with blood cancer, but had completely recovered from it.

After completion of his army service in 1998, he attacked then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and formed a new party, the Center Party, along with several other politicians. He was appointed Tourism Minister in Ehud Barak's government. He later served as Transport Minister as well.

In March of 2001, when Ariel Sharon formed a unity coalition, Lipkin-Shahak announced that he was retiring from the Knesset.