Yossi Peled ( he, יוסי פלד, born 18 January 1941) is an Israeli general and politician, the former

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 ...

of the Northern Command 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 ...

Biography

Early life

Yossi Peled was born Jozef (Jeffke) Mendelevich in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. ("Jeffke," or Little Joe, is the diminutive form of the Flemish nickname for Jozef/Joseph). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he and his sister were adopted by a Catholic family. Except for his mother, all of his family was murdered in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. After the war, his mother reclaimed him, and they made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

to what became

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

with the assistance of the

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

. Peled studied history at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, gaining a BA, and later settled in

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Negba. He is divorced and the father of two children.

Military career

Peled served in the

for 30 years. During the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

, Peled was a company commander in the 9th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade of the 84th Armored Division, under General

Israel Tal Israel Tal ( he, ישראל טל, September 13, 1924, – September 8, 2010), also known as Talik (Hebrew: טליק), was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general known for his knowledge of tank warfare and for leading the development of Israel's M ...

. In the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies fro ...

, he served as a battalion commander on the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...

. In the

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 ...

, Peled was in command of the reservist 205th Armored Brigade, under Moshe Peled's division. His brigade moved from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to 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 ...

and engaged the

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six-D ...

on the northern front. Later in the 1970s, Peled was placed in command of the 252nd Division in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a ...

. In the First Lebanon War, he commanded a provision unit nicknamed Yossi's Force, east of

Lake Qaraoun Lake Qaraoun ( ar, بحيرة القرعون / ALA-LC: ''Buḥayrat al-Qara‘ūn'') is an artificial lake or reservoir located in the southern region of the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. It was created near Qaraoun village in 1959 by building a concret ...

. Peled's final military position was the command of the IDF's Northern Command, which he held from 1986 to 1991.

Government and political career

After serving as the CEO of

Tadiran Telecom Tadiran Telecom (TTL) L.P., is a privately held Israeli Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) company, providing UC&C systems globally. TTL is owned by Afcon Industries, which in turn is controlled by the Shlomo Group (TASE:SHLD), ...

, Peled has held numerous positions in government offices, not officially entering politics. In 1993, he served as head of the

Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority The Second Authority for Television and Radio ( he, הרשות השניה לטלויזיה ורדיו, ''HaRashut HaShniya Le'Televizya VeRadio'') is an Israeli commercial television and radio authority, established in the wake of a law passed by ...

, as well as heading several government-appointed committees, including: *Formulation of a plan for a government policy regarding communications (1996) *Investigation of the causes and failures which led to the kidnapping of 3 soldiers by

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

Shebaa farms The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms ( ar, مزارع شبعا, '; he, חוות שבעא, ''Havot Sheba‘a'' or הר דוב, ''Har Dov''), are a small strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-oc ...

in October 2000 *Formulation of a policy for the treatment of South Lebanon Army personnel in Israel *Investigation of the railway incident which left 5 dead near Beit Yehoshua (2006) In 1996, Peled joined the

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel S ...

party and was a major supporter of

Binyamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

. For the 2009 elections he won fifteenth place on the Likud list, and entered the Knesset as the party won 27 seats. He was later appointed Minister without Portfolio in Netanyahu's government. However, he resigned from the Knesset on 16 September 2012, and left his ministerial post on 27 September. During his term as a minister, Peled reiterated his support for the Migron Bill, a bill that would give outposts in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

immunity from destruction. On another occasion, he expressed his support for the South Lebanon Army, saying that "we have a moral obligation to 600 families of South SLA in Israel".

References

External links

*
Yossi Peled related articles
on

Jpost ''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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peled, Yossi 1941 births Belgian Jews Belgian emigrants to Israel Tel Aviv University alumni Israeli generals Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Living people Likud politicians Government ministers of Israel