Military career

Meivar was fourteen when he joined the ranks of the Haganah as a courier boy. After a short while in Maccabi youth movement, he moved to serve with Betar and was soon assigned as the commander of the local branch, taking in parallel also the command of the "Etzel" in Safed. This lasted until 1940, when the Etzel split into "Etzel" and "Lehi". In his book, Meivar describes his involvement with various youth movements as a character building experience, and emphasizes that volunteering for multiple organizations, sometimes with contradicting ideologies, did not interfere with his evolvement as a future commander.

In 1938 Meivar formally joined the fighting forces of Haganah; his first commander was Miriam Stern. A short while after the Arab revolt and massacres of Tiberias, he was sent to an officers’ course. Most of his activities involved evading the colonizing British troops, and helping Safed acquire ammunition and weapons. The overall goal was to prepare for future revolts and battles. However, in 1939, at the beginning of World War II, the Arab revolts in Mandatory Palestine ceased. Although Haganah recommended assisting the British by providing them with some troops, Meivar refused. In his book, he justifies this decision, claiming that he was already part of four different military courses, and dealing with the tension between Etzel and Haganah, which peaked at 1940. Eventually, Meivar's meeting with Avraham Stern (founder of Lehi) was one of the key influences leading to his leaving of Etzel.

In 1944, Meivar was appointed the commander of Safed by Giora Shanan, the Deputy Palmach Commander. According to Meivar's book, at the time the Haganah forces in Safed had approximately 100 troopers. One of his immediate goals was to recruit more people. His motivation was the prevalent conflict and the imminent battles. Since he grew up as a commander in the lines of Etzel, he was able to convince his former fighters to join the Haganah training. Later, in the 1948 War, those same fighters completely united with the Haganah forces, resulting in a better ability to defend the city.

Political and business career

After the war Meivar stayed in Safed and turned to serve the local community, holding various local government positions. For several years he was member of Safed's municipal council as a representative of Gahal. During the 1960s he was elected as the mayor of Safed. It was the first time a non-Mapai member was acting mayor. However, his coalition did not last until the end of his term.

Later, Meivar worked as a branch manager for the First International Bank of Israel. In the early 1970s he founded Motel Zefat on the Mountain of Canaan. After almost twenty years of operation, the motel was sold and converted into the dormitories of Zefat Academic College.^[3]

He was among the founders of local Freemasonry branch, and its first president. During his term as president of the Safed branch of Rotary International, he initiated the planting of the Paul Harris Peace Forest, which still thrives in the Galilee in northern Israel.

Meivar moved to Jerusalem in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he received the honour of Yakir Safed (“honorable of Safed”), for his contributions during the 1948 War and his achievements as a local business owner, particularly his success with Motel Zefat.

Meivar changed his surname in 1948 from Meiberg (מייברג) to Meivar (מיבר). He married Sarah, a Safed native, and he fathered three children: Yair, a naval engineer, Drora, an organizational psychologist, and Ruth, an Insurance consultant. He had eight grandchildren: Yael (murdered in a terrorist attack in 1998),^[4] Jonathan, Boaz, Ariel, Yoav, Galia, Ehud and Alon.