Itai Veruv (; born April 14, 1966) is a Major General (
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 ...
) who is currently serving as the Commander of 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 ...
Depth Corps and Commander of the
IDF Military Colleges. He previously served as Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces, Commander of the
Gaza Division, Chief of the Infantry and Paratroopers Corps, and Commander of the
Kfir Brigade.
Biography
Veruv was born and raised on Kibbutz
Ramat HaKovesh. He was drafted into the IDF in 1985. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the
Paratroopers Brigade, and in 1985 volunteered for a parachuting battalion in the
Nahal Brigade. He underwent a combat training course, combat commanders’ course, and combat officer training school. Following the course, he returned to the parachuting unit battalion of the Nahal Brigade as a platoon commander.
In August 1989, he was promoted to company commander within the battalion. In 1991, he was promoted to company commander in a different role in the 101st Battalion.
In 1992, he was promoted to deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade training base. Following this, he was promoted to operations officer of the Paratroopers Brigade. Afterwards, he completed training in the Armored Corps, studies in the Command and Staff College, and received a B.A. in finance from
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
.
In 1997, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and became commander of the 101st Battalion. He served in this role until 1999. He led the unit, among other operations, in the fighting against
Hezbollah
Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
in Southern Lebanon.
In 1999, he was promoted to commander of the Paratroopers Brigade training base and served in this role until 2001. Afterwards, he we went to study for a master's degree in military strategy at the
Royal College of Defence Studies
The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...
(RCDS) in the United Kingdom.
In 2003, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and became commander of a Northern Border Regional Brigade. In 2005, he stepped into his role as commander of the Tactical Command Academy and simultaneously as the commander of the 55th Brigade, where he served until 2007. This period included the events of the
Second Lebanon War.
On August 5, 2007, he became the commander of the
Kfir Brigade and served in this role until August 20, 2009.
Following studies in the
Israel National Defense College, he again served as commander of the 55th Brigade and company commanders’ course.
On January 23, 2012, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and commander of the company commanders' course, while simultaneously commanding a project in the Ground Forces. On September 13, 2012, he became chief of the Infantry and Paratroopers Corps.
On August 31, 2014, he became the commander of the Gaza Division. At the beginning of July, 2016, he became the Ground Forces Chief of Staff.
On March 10, 2019, he was promoted to the rank of major general, and on March 11, became commander of the
IDF Military Colleges unit. On August 18, 2020, in addition to his current role, he became commander of the IDF
Depth Corps.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veruv, Itai
1966 births
Israeli generals
Living people
Israeli Jews