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Aluf (Hebrew:אלוף,lit. 'champion' or "first/leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew) is a senior military rank in theIsrael Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank ofgeneral,air marshal, oradmiral. In addition to thealuf rank, four other ranks' names are derivatives ofaluf (for whichabbreviations can be used), together constituting the fivehighest ranks in the IDF.
The termaluf comes from theBible (Hebrew:אַלּוּף,romanized: ’allup̄): theEdomites used it as a rank of nobility and the later books of the Bible use it to describe Israelite captains as well, e.g.Zechariah 9:7, 12:5-6, and later andPsalms 55:13, where it is used as a general term for teacher. It comes from aSemitic root meaning "thousand," making an’allup̄ the one who commands a thousand people.Strong's Christian Bible Concordance, however connects the word used to describe the Dukes of Edom to a different root "alf" denoting a teacher and the root for the animal 'ox' from which the letter aleph itself is derived, rather thaneleph thousand; the same 3 letters comprise them both, however.
Aside from being a military rank, "aluf" is also used in a civilian context, particularly insports, meaning "champion".
TheIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) form an integrated force;ranks are the same in all services.
| Rank group | General officers | Field officers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Israel Defense Forces[1] |  |  |  |  |  |
| רב-אלוף Rav aluf | אלוף Aluf | תת-אלוף Tat aluf | אלוף משנה Aluf mishne | סגן-אלוף Sgan aluf | |
| Abbreviation | רא״ל Ra'al | אלוף Aluf | תא״ל Ta'al | אל״ם Alam | סא״ל Sa'al |
| English equivalents | Lieutenant general | Major general | Brigadier general | Colonel | Lieutenant colonel |
Rav aluf is usually translated as "lieutenant general", although it is the most senior rank in the IDF. The rank is given only to theChief of the General Staff, so there can only be one activerav aluf under normal circumstances. However this can change in a time of war. During theYom Kippur War in 1973, retiredRav AlufHaim Bar-Lev was recalled into service, replacingShmuel Gonen as the commander of the southern theater. Thus, along with Chief of the General StaffDavid Elazar (who had succeeded Bar-Lev in that position the previous year), there were tworav alufs in active service.
Israel is essentially aland andair power, with thenavy receiving less than five percent of themilitary budget. The three forces have the same ranks, although separate naval ranks were used for a short time in the 1950s; an officer who would be aOF-7,major general,air vice-marshal, orrear admiral elsewhere is analuf in any of the Israeli forces.
The non-Hebrew word "general" was also adopted into Hebrew (Hebrew:גנרל), and is used to refer to the generals of foreign armies. It can also be used colloquially in reference to a senior Israeli officer, in a derogatory sense implying that the officer in question is over-officious, incompetent, or involved in internecine power struggles with other officers, sometimes referred to as the "war of the generals" (Hebrew:מלחמת הגנרלים), to the neglect of proper military duties. For example, formerIsraeli Labor Party chairmanAmir Peretz, criticized in a speech two other party members who both held the rank of (retired)aluf: former Vice-Chief of the General Staff,AlufMatan Vilnai and formerCommander of the Israeli Navy,AlufAmi Ayalon, referring to them (and other former senior officers of the IDF) as "the generals and admirals":
"I look around me, and hear the voices, I look and I don't believe. Whenever a party does not win the status of a ruling party, the most respectable post is the Defense Ministry. And I hear the generals, and the admirals say: 'Why the Defense Ministry?' I hear the voices, and I am happy with myself, because this means we succeeded in changing the agenda in the State of Israel. The revolution is that a social general is no longer ruled out from being a minister of defense, and our generals yearn to deal with social issues."
— Amir Peretz, formerDefense Minister of Israel,"Peretz authorized to appoint Labor ministers", ynetnews.com