General Khleifawi was the only prime minister to assume the job twice, with an interval of two years and a half, during the era of Hafez al-Assad. Between November 1970-March 1971, Khleifawi served as Minister of Interior in a cabinet headed by Assad himself. He was then made Prime Minister in March 1971 and kept his post until December 1972, during which he co-led the nation during the Syrian-Israeli War of October 1973. A decisive man and a tough administrator with an exceptionally unblemished record, he was re-appointed Prime Minister in August 1976, shortly after the Syrian Army entered the Lebanese Civil War, and stayed in office until March 1978