Aluf Tzvi Ayalon | |
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| Native name | צבי איילון |
| Birth name | Tzvi Lashchiner |
| Born | 15 June 1911 Russian Empire |
| Died | 4 March 1993 (aged 81) Israel |
| Allegiance |  Israel |
| Service |  Haganah Israel Defense Forces |
| Years of service | 1927-1965 (38 years) |
| Rank |  Aluf (Major General) |
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Tzvi Ayalon (Hebrew:צבי איָילון; 15 June 1911 - 4 March 1993)[1] was aHaganah leader and a major general (Aluf) in theIsrael Defense Forces, he served as the firstDeputy Chief of General Staff as well as the commander of theCentral Command (Israel). After his military service he served as the deputy director-general of theMinistry of Defense (Israel) andAmbassador of Israel in Romania.
Ayalon was born in theRussian Empire in the summer of 1911, son of Esther and Meir Lashchiner. In 1923, as a young teenager, he immigrated to theBritish mandate of Palestine. Studied at theReali School in Haifa and at theMikveh Israel Agricultural School.
At the age of 16, he joined the Jewish paramilitary organizationHaganah. He served as a platoon commander during the1929 Palestine riots; in which he was injured. He served from 1936 in the permanent apparatus of theHaganah in theHaifa area, and held command and training positions in the area, and later in thenorthern Galilee area. In 1943 he instructed the officers' course of theHaganah organization inJoara. In 1944 he was appointed commander of the Northern Galilee. Later he was a senior staff officer in the General Staff. He was a partner in formulating the idea of the Field Force (Hish) and the combat theory of 'offensive defense'. On the eve of the outbreak of the War of Independence, he served as a planning officer at the General Staff.
In January 1948, he was appointedDeputy Chief of Staff, and with the establishment of theIDF in May of that year, he continued in his position, with the rank of Major General (Aluf). At the same time as his position asDeputy Chief of Staff, he was the commander of the Third Front (today theCentral Command), which commanded the forces thatfought in and around Jerusalem.
Due to the illness of theChief of StaffYaakov Dori, he was the actingChief of Staff for a while. While acting as Chief of Staff, he signed arrest warrants for theAltalena defendants[2] as well asMeir Tobiansky's arrest warrant.[3]
After the war he was responsible for the creation of theIDF parade in July 1949, which took place after the failure of the parade that did not march on theIndependence Day.[4]
In 1952 he was appointed head of logistics department (todayTechnological and Logistics Directorate) and in 1954 he was appointed as commander of theCentral Command (Israel), a position which he served in until February 1956.
In August 1957 he was appointed head of the Construction and Assets Division at theMinistry of Defense,[5] in July 1958 he was appointed by thenPrime Minister and Minister of Defense David Ben-Gurion as Deputy Director of the economic affairs of theMinistry of Defense,[6] and in 1964 he served as theAmbassador ofIsrael inRomania.[7]
He officially left his military service in 1965 and became the director of the licensing department at theMinistry of Transportation and as auditor of theTel Aviv Municipality.[8] in 1968 he co-founded theCouncil for a Beautiful Israel.[9]
Tzvi Ayalon was awarded onecampaign ribbons for his service.
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| Israeli Independence war |
In 1931 he married Rachel Katznelson (who died in the spring of 1970), and was the father of two.
Heads ofCentral Command | ||
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