Gabi Ashkenazi | |
|---|---|
גבי אשכנזי | |
 Ashkenazi, in his former role of IDF chief of staff, February 2007 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 2020–2021 | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 2019–2021 | Blue and White |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gabriel Ashkenazi (1954-02-25)25 February 1954 (age 71) Hagor, Israel |
| Residence | Kfar Saba |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Israel |
| Years of service | 1972–2011 |
| Rank |  Rav Aluf (highest rank) |
| Commands | IDF Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF
|
| Battles/wars | |
Gabriel "Gabi"Ashkenazi (Hebrew:גבי אשכנזי; born 25 February 1954)[1] is an Israeli politician and former military leader. He previously served as theminister of foreign affairs.[2][3] He was theChief of General Staff of theIsrael Defense Forces from 2007 to 2011. Ashkenazi served as a member ofBlue and White in theKnesset.
Gabriel (Gabi) Ashkenazi was born to aBulgarian Jewish andSyrian Jewish family and grew up inHagor, amoshav, orcooperative agricultural community in theSharon region ofcentral Israel, of which his parents were among the founders. His father, Yosef Ashkenazi, was aHolocaust survivor who hadimmigrated to Israel fromBulgaria, while his mother, Freda Jamal, had immigrated fromSyria.[4][5] Ashkenazi completed high school at a militaryboarding school affiliated with the prestigiousGymnasia Herzliya inTel Aviv. His roommates includedYigal Schwartz, a major figure in Israeli literature, andYoav Kutner, an acclaimed music editor and journalist.[6]
Ashkenazi studied at the Tel Aviv Junior Command Preparatory School and the U.S.Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He earned a bachelor's degree inpolitical science from theUniversity of Haifa and in 2004, attended the six/seven-week Advanced Management Program atHarvard Business School.[7][8]
His brotherTat Aluf Avi Ashkenazi,[9] was appointed head of the National Center for Training on Land (מל"י) in 2009.
Ashkenazi was conscripted into theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) in 1972, and served in theGolani Brigade.[10] Ashkenazi first saw action in theSinai Peninsula during the 1973Yom Kippur War. In July 1976, Ashkenazi was a platoon commander in the force that carried outOperation Thunderbolt, a mission to rescue hostages held inUganda, but he did not participate in the battle atEntebbe Airport. Ashkenazi's first of many experiences inLebanon came in 1978 duringOperation Litani. Ashkenazi was wounded in the fighting and left the IDF before being asked to return as abattalion commander two years later.[1] During the1982 Lebanon War, Ashkenazi served as Deputy Commander of the Golani Brigade and commanded the forces which capturedBeaufort Castle, and the towns ofNabatieh andJabel Baruch.[11] Promoted to Commander of the Golani Brigade in 1987, Ashkenazi was reportedly popular with his brigade's combat soldiers during his nearly two-year tenure in that post.[1]
In 1988, Ashkenazi was appointed head of Intelligence forIsraeli Northern Command. He commanded a reserve armor division in the early 1990s and later worked as the chief of Israel's civil administration in Lebanon, and in 1994 was promoted to chief of the General Staff'sOperations Directorate. In 1998, Ashkenazi was appointed head of the Israeli Northern Command, a position that would make him responsible for Israel's withdrawal from itsSecurity Zone inSouthern Lebanon, ending Israel's18 year presence in the country. Ashkenazi criticized the withdrawal, believing that it should have been accompanied by negotiations withSyria.
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Appointed IDF Deputy Chief of Staff in 2002, Ashkenazi was considered the most moderate member of the Israeli General Staff during theAl-Aqsa Intifada, according to the Israeli newspaperHaaretz. When Israel began to construct aWest Bank barrier in order to physically separate Israeli and Palestinian communities with the purpose of preventing terrorist attacks within Israel, Ashkenazi was placed in charge of the project. He advocated building the barrier as close to theGreen Line as possible, a position which would minimize the effects of the barrier on Palestinians. The General also "objected to aggressive acts against the Palestinians" during theIntifada and once described his "greatest fear" for the IDF as "the loss of humanity [of Israeli soldiers] because of the ongoing warfare."
In early 2005, Ashkenazi became a leading candidate to replace outgoing chief of staffMoshe Ya'alon. Ultimately, Defense MinisterShaul Mofaz decided to pickIsraeli Air Force Commander Dan Halutz as Ya'alon's successor in February 2005. According toHaaretz, "Halutz was seen to have an advantage over Ashkenazi" given his personal ties with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.[12] As a result of the decision, Ashkenazi officially retired from the IDF in May 2005,[13] leaving in "enormous pain and disappointment." He then became a partner in a security consultancy company based in Tel Aviv.[14]
One year later, Defense MinisterAmir Peretz brought Ashkenazi back to the military to serve as the Ministry of Defense'sdirector-general. In this position, Ashkenazi became the relatively inexperienced Minister's "right hand man" during the2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict and, according toYnetnews, proved to be "much more proficient" than his boss.[1]Ynetnews attributes Peretz's decision to promote Ashkenazi to chief of staff to the two men's successful working relationship during the Lebanon war.
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Ashkenazi became theChief of the General Staff of theIsrael Defense Forces on February 14, 2007.
As a Rav Aluf, Ashkenazi had to deal with the events of theSecond Lebanon War and to draw conclusions for improvements. Under his command, the IDF went through a process of fixing its faults and weaknesses which manifested in the Second Lebanon War. Ashkenazi emphasized many intensivemilitary trainings andmilitary exercises, ranging from reinserting basic skills forgotten, up to large multi-corps exercise (which sometimes included fullbrigades).
In December 2007 Ashkenazi met with AdmiralMichael Mullen,chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States – this was the first time in ten years that an Israeli chief of staff met with his U.S. counterpart. While on visit in the United States in July 2008 Mullen gave Ashkenazi theLegion of Merit military decoration with the Commander rank.
At the end of February 2008, Ashkenazi commandedOperation Hot Winter during which the IDF fought terrorist organizations in Gaza for two days. The fighting ended in a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas. At the end of 2008 and in early 2009 Ashkenazi commanded alsoOperation Cast Lead during which the IDF fought against Hamas and other Palestinian forces in Gaza.[15]
In February 2011, Ashkenazi retired from the army,[16] and was succeeded byBenny Gantz.[17]
Ashkenazi reportedly pushed back against an Israeli military strike on Iran in 2010.[18] IsraeliChannel 10 reported that at a pivotal meeting where Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu tried to persuade his cabinet and military to order a strike, Ashkenazi and other security chiefs steadfastly opposed the move. As a result, Netanyahu did not receive the support from his cabinet to order the strike.[19]
In April 2013, he gave his first on-camera interview outside of Israel, and urged the West to provide "lethal assistance" for the opposition forces in theSyrian civil war after it was reported that PresidentBashar al-Assad's regime has used chemical weapons. ″Maybe a year and a half ago, when we had 10,000 deaths and less foreigners coming fromChechnya or Iraq or whatever and more extremists affiliated with al Qaeda, like Jabhat al-Nusra and others.″ Ashkenazi lamented that more action was not taken in the past as it would, perhaps, have saved lives in the long run of a civil war that has so far cost over 70,000 lives and generated over a million refugees.[20]
In November 2011, Ashkenazi was appointed chairman of Shemen Oil and Gas Explorations Ltd., an Israeli company engaged inhydrocarbon exploration.[21][22]
Ashkenazi served as chairman of the Rashi Foundation from February 2012[23] to 2021[24]
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In February 2019, theIsrael Resilience Party,Telem and theYesh Atid party announced that Ashkenazi would be joining their joint list for the2019 Knesset election namedBlue and White. Ashkenazi was number four on the new list of candidates, as another representative of the Israel Resilience Party.[25]
In 2020, Ashkenazi was appointedminister of foreign affairs as a part of theThirty-fifth government of Israel.[3] He officially took his oath of office on 17 May 2020.[2] He served in the position until 13 June 2021, when he was replaced byYair Lapid.[26] He left Blue and White in 2021 and did not run for reelection to the Knesset in the2021 election.[27]
He lives inKfar Saba[28] with his wife Ronit and their two children, Gali and Itai.[citation needed] Itai played quarterback in theIsraeli Football League.[29]
In March 2012, the city ofOr Yehuda named a street after him.[30] The decision was canceled in 2015.[31]
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