The Northern Command ( he, פִּקּוּד צָפוֹן, ''Pikud Tzafon'', often abbreviated to Patzan) is the Israel Defense Forces regional

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards ...

responsible for the northern border with Syria and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

History

During the wars in the 1960s and 70s, the Northern Command was in charge of the campaigns directed against Syria on 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 d ...

and the

Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...

border. During the 1970s and 80s, it mainly faced attacks from the

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

, which was driven to southern Lebanon following Black September. Beginning with the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First L ...

, the Northern Command faced attacks from

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 paramil ...

, a Lebanese militant group founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli occupation of

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distri ...

. During 2000, the Northern Command completed its withdrawal from the

Security Zone Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

in southern Lebanon and was dispatched along the UN-sanctioned border. Although

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 ...

's withdrawal from southern Lebanon has been met with UN approval, Hezbollah continues its attacks, mainly in the Shebaa farms area of Mount Hermon, an area occupied by Israel from Syria and which Hezbollah claims as Lebanese territory.

Units

The Northern Command commands regional units from Mount Hermon in the

, to

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...

, with a significant presence in the

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...

and the Golan Heights. * Northern Command in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...

** 36th "Ga'ash/Rage" Armor Division ** 91st "Galil" (Territorial) Division (doubles as reserve infantry division) ** 210th "Bashan" (Territorial) Division (doubles as reserve infantry division) ** 319th "Ha-Mapatz" (Reserve) Armor Division ** 5001st "Northern Golan" Logistic Support Unit ** 5002nd "Lebanon" Logistic Support Unit ** 5003rd "Southern Golan" Logistic Support Unit ** Northern Command Signal Battalion ** Northern Command Engineering Unit ** Northern Command Intelligence Unit ** Northern Command Military Police Unit ** Northern Command Medical Unit ** 651st Maintenance Center

Commanders

* Moshe Carmel (1948–1949) * Yosef Avidar (1949–1952) *

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

(1952) * Asaf Simhoni (1952–1954) *

Moshe Tzadok Moshe Lehrer Tzadok (sometimes spelled Moshe Zadok; he, משה צדוק (לֶרֶר); July 1, 1913 - March 15, 1964) was Haganah fighter and later an IDF major general, first head of the Manpower Directorate during the 1947–1949 Palestine war, a ...

(1954–1956) *

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until ...

(1956–1959) * Meir Zorea (1959–1962) * Avraham Yoffe (1962–1964) *

David Elazar David "Dado" Elazar ( he, דוד אלעזר; 27 August 1925 – 15 April 1976) was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kipp ...

(1964–1969) * Mordechai Gur (1969–1972, 1974) *

Yitzhak Hofi Yitzhak Hofi ( he, יצחק חופי‎; 25 January 1927 – 15 September 2014) was a member of the Palmach, IDF General, chief of the Northern Command (Israel), and director of the Mossad. Life Hofi was born in Tel Aviv. He joined the Hagana ...

(1972–1974) * Rafael Eitan (1974–1977) *

Avigdor Ben Gal Avigdor "Yanush" Ben-Gal ( he, אביגדור בן-גל; 1936 – February 13, 2016; born Janusz Goldlust) was an Israeli general. Life Early life He was born in 1936, in Łódź, Poland, as Janusz Ludwig Goldlust. When he was three years old, Wo ...

(1977–1981) * Amir Drori (1981–1983) * Ori Orr (1983–1986) * Yossi Peled (1986–1991) *

Yitzhak Mordechai Yitzhak "Itzik" Mordechai ( he, יצחק מרדכי, born 22 November 1944) is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retir ...

(1991–1994) * Amiram Levin (1994–1998) * Gabi Ashkenazi (1998–2002) *

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...

(2002–2005) * Udi Adam (2005–2006) * Gadi Eizenkot (2006–2011) * Yair Golan (2011–2014) * Aviv Kochavi (2014–2017) *

Yoel Strick Yoel Strick ( he, יואל סטריק; born 1966) is an Israeli General (Aluf) who commands the Ground Forces Command. Military service Strick began his military service in the Israel Defense Forces in 1985, as a cadet in the Israel Air Force ...

(2017–2019) *

Amir Baram Amir Baram ( he, אמיר ברעם; born 22 July 1969) is an Israeli general (aluf) who serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF He previously served as the commander of the Northern Command, commander of the IDF Military Colleges, com ...

(2019–2022) *

Ori Gordin Ori Gordin (Hebrew: אורי גורדין born in July 1969) is an IDF Major General (Aluf), who serves as the commander of the Northern Command. Previously, he served as the commander of the Home Front Command, commander of the 98th Paratrooper ...

(2022–present)

Notes

{{Israel Defense Forces Regional commands of Israel