Amos Yaron (; born 1 April 1940) is a retired

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

Major General and former head of the

Manpower Directorate The Israeli Personnel Directorate (, ''Agaf Koakh Adam'', abbreviated to AKA), formerly called the Manpower Directorate and the Human Resources Directorate, is the Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively ...

. He served as the Director General of the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

from 1999 until 2005.

Biography

Military service

Yaron joined

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

in 1957. He volunteered for the Airborne Battalion where he underwent training course as a fighter. In 1959. He later completed the infantry commanders' course after which he served as an instructor at the school for officers. He later served in several command positions in the

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Paratroopers Brigade (, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim'') is an Israeli military airborne infantry brigade. It is a selective unit, which accepts new recruits following physical tryouts and interviews, and consists of volunteers. It forms a m ...

, attending a

Special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

training camp. During the

six-day war The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

he served as the operations officer of the reserve 55th Paratroop Brigade that fought in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. From 1970 to 1973 Yaron served as the commander of the Nahal Airborne Battalion, later served as deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. In January 1971 commanded one of the forces that raided Lebanon during Operation Bardas 20, Operation Bardas 54–55, and Operation Spring of Youth.

Operation Pontiac

During 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 fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, on October 11, 1973, Yaron commanded Operation Pontiac. Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion Yas'ur helicopters led a force of 22 soldiers, including artillery guns equipped with two M-102, and reserve personnel from

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

that secured the guns. They intercepted at Jebel Ataqah,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

where they confronted the Third Army headquarters, a crucial junction in the 101-mile axis.

1970s and 1980s

In 1975 Yaron was promoted to commander of the

in reserve and later to the regular Paratroopers Brigade. During his command, the Brigade suffered the IDF's biggest accident when a Yas'ur helicopter crashed during an exercise in the Jordan Valley, killing all 44 fighters and 10 crew members. Between 1978 and 1980 Yaron established , a reserve division that operated from 1978 and 2004. Between 1980 and 1981 Head of

Operations Directorate The Israeli Operations Directorate (, ''Agaf HaMivtza'im'', abbreviated as ( ''Agam'') is the Operations (military staff), operations branch in the Israeli General Staff, General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. It was established in 1999, al ...

. In 1981 he was appointed to Chief officer of infantry and paratroopers. At the same time he also served as the commander of the Fire Formation. During the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

, Yaron commanded the division

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...

at the mouth of the

Awali River The Awali ( / ALA-LC: ''Nahr al-Awalī'', ancient Bostrenus / Bostrenos) is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. In ancient times it was known as Asclepius River. The long Awali originates from the Barouk mountain at a height of and ...

which fought all the way to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. That happened at the same time the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place. As the result of the

Kahan Commission The Kahan Commission (ועדת כהן), formally known as the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, was established by the Israeli government on 28 September 1982, to investigate the Sabra and Shatila massacre (16 ...

, Yaron was moved from all operational roles. Additionally Yaron was placed on a promotion freeze for three years. From 1983 to 1986 Yaron served as the Head of

. After his promotion was delayed for a while (due to the Kahan Commission's report), in 1984 Yaron was promoted to Major General. In 1986 Yaron was appointed

military attache A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

to the United States and Canada, a position he held until 1989. Yaron was discharged in 1990, after 33 years of service.

Later years

Shortly before his discharge,

Dan Shomron Lieutenant General Daniel Shomron (; August 5, 1937 – February 26, 2008) was the 13th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), from 1987 to 1991. Biography Shomron was the eldest of three children of Tova and Eliyahu Dozorets-Shimr ...

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Israel Defense Forces at the time, appointed Yaron to head the Commission of Inquiry to review the circumstances that led to the that took place on July 17, 1990. In 2006, Yaron was appointed to head the Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances of the escape of

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending' ...

Benny Sela. In 1999 Yaron was appointed Director General of the

. A position he served until September 15, 2005, when he was succeeded by . It was rumored that Yaron resigned after pressure from the United States when it was discovered Israel's plan to sell

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

(UAV) to China without any coordination from the Pentagon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaron, Amos 1940 births Israeli generals Living people People from Holon Tel Aviv University alumni