Ephraim "Effi" Defrin is an

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 ...

officer and the current

IDF spokesperson The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...

since 27 March 2025, having succeeded Daniel Hagari. His previous position was head of the Tevel Division. He has also served as deputy commander of Ga'ash Formation and commander of 27th Brigade.

Early life and education

Ephraim Defrin was born in Giv'at Olga. His father Baruch immigrated from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and his mother Aliza from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. In his youth, he attended a vocational school.

Career

Upon enlistment, he joined the 7th Armored Brigade, completing combat and tank commanders’ training. He then completed an officer's course and served as a tank platoon commander. In 1997, he became a company commander in the 75th Battalion, 7th Brigade. In the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, he commanded the 9th Battalion of the

401st Brigade The 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade (, ''Ikvot HaBarzel'') is an Armored Brigade in the 162nd Division of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). History Established in 1966, 401 Brigade is one of the youngest brigades of the IDF. It took its current ...

during the Battle of Wadi Saluki, where he was severely wounded. After several weeks of recovery, he returned to command his battalion. Later, he commanded the 532nd Battalion in the 460th Brigade and served as operations officer (G3) of the 162nd Division. After completing the Brigade Commanders Course, he was appointed commander of the 27th Brigade. Upon the brigade's dissolution, in 2014 he was appointed deputy commander of Ga'ash Formation, serving until 2015. On 12 September 2016 he was appointed as IDF attaché to India. Defrin was promoted to brigadier general and became head of the Foreign Relations Division within the

Planning Directorate The Planning Directorate (Hebrew: אגף התכנון, Acronym: AGAT) was the central body in the Israel Defense Forces' Israeli General Staff, General Staff whose focus was on strategic and tactical planning, the building of military forces, and ...

, continuing after it was restructured under the Strategy and Third Circle Directorate as the Tevel Division. He retired from the IDF in August 2024 after 33 years of service. He served as VP Marketing at

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. () is an Israeli Defense contractor, defense technology company. It was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defens ...

. On 9 March 2025, IDF Chief of Staff

Eyal Zamir Eyal Zamir (; born 26 January 1966) is the current Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken office on 5 March 2025. Zamir previously served as the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (2023–2025), a ...

appointed him as the

IDF Spokesperson The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...

. On 27 March 2025 he entered office officially. During the

June 2025 Israeli strikes against Iran June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summe ...

, at Effrin's request, Hagari returned as acting director of the Spokesperson's Unit to lead internal operations, while Defrin remained as the public face of the unit. Hagari was expected to remain in the position until the conflict had ended.

Early life and education

Career

References

Further reading