Haim Ben-David (; May 6, 1919 – November 22, 1967) was a major general in the

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 ...

, the second Military Secretary to Prime Minister

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

, and the 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 ...

. After his military service, Ben-David was appointed ambassador to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

where he was killed in a plane accident in line of duty.

Early life and education

Ben-David was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the capital of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1919. He studied Hebrew at the local Jewish community which was headed by Tzvi-Peretz Hayot at the time. Soon after, Ben-David joined the Gordonia, a

Zionist youth movement A Zionist youth movement () is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideology, ideological development, including a belief in Zionism, Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel. Yout ...

and in 1938 he immigrated to Israel. Soon after arriving in Israel, Ben-David joined the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

where he aided Jewish immigrants during the

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

Career

Ben-David became one of the first fighters in the

Special Night Squads The Special Night Squads (SNS) was a joint British–Jewish counter-insurgency military unit, established by Captain Orde Wingate in Mandatory Palestine in 1938 during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. The SNS consisted of British infantry soldiers, ...

watching over the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline in the

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...

. He eventually settled in

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...

valley where he became the area's first commander of Hish. After the formation of the

Carmeli Brigade 2nd "Carmeli" Brigade (Hebrew: חטיבת כרמלי, Hativat Carmeli, former 165th Brigade) is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, part of the Northern Command. Today the brigade consists of four battalions, including one ...

on February 22, 1948, he became a company commander. During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

Ben-David fought in the Battle of Ramat Yohanan. He participated in

Operation Dekel Operation Dekel (), was the largest offensive by Israeli forces in the north of Palestine after the first truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was carried out by the 7th Armoured Brigade led by Canadian volunteer Ben Dunkelman (called B ...

and

Operation Hiram Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the Upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) ...

in the

Western Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

in an attempt to free

Yehiam Yehiam () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located at the western Upper Galilee, eight miles east of the coastal town of Nahariya and 14 miles south-east of the border with Lebanon it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. I ...

. In October 1951, he was appointed assistant Chief of General Staff under the command of

Mordechai Maklef Mordechai (Motke) Maklef (or Makleff) (; 19 January 1920 – 22 February 1978) was the third Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and later, director-general of many important public companies in the Israeli economy. Early life ...

. In 1953 he was appointed to organize the Department of Human Resources under the

. In 1955 he was appointed Battalion commander of

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

, a position he held for a year. Ben-David became the

Military Secretary to the Prime Minister The military secretary to the Prime Minister (, ''HaMazkir HaTzva'i Shel Rosh'' ''HaMemshala''), is the senior military adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel on military and national security issues. As a member of the Staff (military), Militar ...

under the command of

following the suicide of Nehemiah Argov. He held that position for five years while the

Lavon Affair The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of a false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to pla ...

intensified. Following the resignation of

in 1963, Ben-David was appointed Head of the

. In April of '64 Ben-David was promoted to

Aluf ( 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. In addition to the ''aluf'' rank, fo ...

rank.

After his release and plane accident

After his release from the military in 1966, Ben-David was appointed Israel's ambassador in Ethiopia. In November 1967 Ben-David was killed in a plane accident while flying from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

to an Israeli farm as part of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. Ben-David was married and had three sons. He is buried in

Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery Kiryat Shaul Cemetery () is a 320-dunam (32 hectares) Jewish burial ground in Northern Tel Aviv near the neighborhood of Kiryat Shaul. On the east side of the cemetery is a large military cemetery. Founded in 1943, it includes more than 80,000 gr ...

. A street in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

is named after him.

References

1919 births 1967 deaths Austrian Zionists Israeli generals Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Haganah members Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to Mandatory Palestine Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery {{Israel-mil-bio-stub British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1967 Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Israel