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 ...

Eyal Ben-Reuven ( he, אייל בן ראובן; born 22 May 1954) is a retired

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the

IDF Military Colleges The IDF Military Colleges is a centralized educational unit of the Israeli Defence Forces under the command of the General Staff. Since 2019 its commander is ''aluf'' Itai Veruv. It was established in 1991 by merging Israeli military colleges int ...

and senior field commander. He is the former deputy commander of the Northern Command, for which he still serves as a reserve.

Military career

He enlisted in the IDF in 1972 as a member of the Armor Corps. Reuven participated in the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

, fighting both near the Suez Canal and at the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. He commanded an armor battalion the 1982 Lebanon War. While in the IDF Reuven graduated from the

IDF Command and Staff College The Command and Staff College ( he, המכללה הבין-זרועית לפיקוד ולמטה), abbreviated he, פּוּ"ם, פום, PUM, also translated as Inter-Service Command and Staff College, Israel, is intended for the training of sen ...

and later studied at the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He has also received a B.A. in political science from the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming ...

. Ben-Reuven was the deputy commander of the Northern Command in the 2006 Lebanon War.

Retirement from the military

After retirement from the army he became director of the which worked (until 2012) to secure the release of Israeli prisoners of war. After participating in many peace initiatives such as the

Geneva Initiative The Geneva Initiative, also known as the Geneva Accord, is a draft ''Permanent Status Agreement'' to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Pa ...

, he joined the Meretz party. However, he never ran for a spot on the party's list. He quit Meretz in 2015 due to some disagreements with the party's outlook on the Palestinian issue. After discussing the peace process with

Hatnuah Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in ...

chairwoman

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former for ...

, he joined the

Zionist Union The Zionist Union ( he, הַמַחֲנֶה הַצִיּוֹנִי, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Party ...

, taking spot 24 on its list (reserved for Hatnuah members). In an interview for ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

'', he said he hoped "to be a warrior for a peace agreement,...first with the Palestinians, then with other countries in the region. I can't guarantee there'll be peace tomorrow, but we must try."Gil Hoffman
Zionist Union candidate aims to be warrior for peace
''The Jerusalem Post'', 10 February 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Reuven, Eyal Living people Israeli generals University of Haifa alumni Israeli Jews Hatnua politicians Zionist Union politicians Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) 1954 births