Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral ...

Avi (Abraham) Mizrahi ( he, אבי מזרחי; born 1957) is a general in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, the Head of Israeli Central Command between October 2009 and March 2012.

Military career

Mizrahi was drafted by the IDF in 1975, and joined Sayeret Golani (95th Recon. Company), the SF unit of the 1st Infantry Brigade. He later entered the

Israeli Armor Corps , ''Ha'adam she'Ba Tank Ye'na'tzeah'') , song= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= * War of Independence * Sinai War The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العد ...

, where he worked his way up to brigade commander. After that he served as the representative of the IDF

GOC Army Headquarters The GOC Army Headquarters ( he, מפקדת זרוע היבשה, ''Mifkedet Zro'a HaYabasha'', abbreviated Mazi), is a multi-corps command headquarters created in 1998, which amalgamates the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current ...

United States Army Training and Doctrine Command The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is a major command of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It is charged with overseeing training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine. ...

(TRADOC) and the commander of several formations. In 2005 Mizrahi was appointed the head of the

Logistics, Medical, and the Centers Directorate The Israeli Technological and Logistics Directorate (acronym: Atal) is a directorate in the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, responsible for its logistics responses and tasks, and in particular: the building of military bases, maintaini ...

, and from 2007 until 2009 he served as the Chief of the Ground forces. Before his most recent appointment, Mizrahi served as the Head of the IDF

. From October 2009 until March 2012 Mizrahi served as the Head of the IDF Central Command.

Turkish-Israeli diplomatic incident

In February 2009, during a speech at the Gelilot military base, Mizrahi caused a diplomatic incident, commenting on sharp critical remarks voiced by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the Gaza War. Mizrahi noted that Turkey had no right to criticize Israel's action as Turkey itself stationed troops in

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Rec ...

, oppressed its Kurdish minority, and massacred Armenians during World War I. Israeli ambassador was summoned to Turkey's foreign ministry to explain these remarks, while IDF Spokesperson's Unit issued a statement saying Mizrahi's words do not represent any official position.Yossi Melman and Barak Ravid,
IDF: Officer's criticism of Turkey does not represent official view
, Ha-Aretz (14.2.09)

Notes

References

Living people Israeli Jews Israeli generals People from Zikhron Ya'akov 1957 births {{Israel-mil-bio-stub