Roni Numa ( he, רוני נומה; also known as Ronny Numa,born 1967) is an Israeli retired

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

(

Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion 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 admira ...

) who headed the Central Command of the

Israel Defense Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

from 2015 to 2018.

Military service

Numa was drafted into the IDF in 1983. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...

, and in 1985 became an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

officer after completing

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Typ ...

. Numa served as a

platoon leader {{unreferenced, date=February 2013 A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or first ...

at the 890 paratroop battalion and fought in

South 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 distr ...

. later on he commanded

Duvdevan Unit Unit 217, frequently called Duvdevan ( he, דובדבן, lit=cherry), is a ''mistaʽaravim'' unit in the Commando Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. It is notable for its undercover operations in urban areas, during which its operators o ...

and

Shaldag Unit Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag ( he, שלדג, ''Kingfisher''), is an elite Israeli Air Force (IAF) special forces unit and one of the main Israeli special forces units. The unit is part of the Special Air Forces Wing (Wing 7) in the IA ...

. Numa Commanded 202 "Tsefa" (Viper) paratroop battalion during

Operation Defensive Shield Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifad ...

, and later on commanded the Benjamin Regional Brigade during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

. Afterwards he commanded the

Nahal Brigade The 933rd "Nahal" Brigade is one of the Israel Defense Forces main infantry brigades. From August 2019 to June 2021, the brigade was led by . On June 28, was appointed as the new commander. However, three days later, on July 1, Asman suddenly ...

. In the 2006 Lebanon War he served as an assistant to Gen.

Dan Halutz Dan Halutz ( he, דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007. Bi ...

. Later on he commanded the

98th Paratroopers Division The 98th "HaEsh" Paratroopers Division, also known as the Fire Formation ( he, עֻצְבַּת הָאֵשׁ, ''Utzbat HaEsh''), is a reserve-service infantry division in the Israel Defense Forces. It is subordinate to the Central Regional Com ...

, In 2015 he was appointed as the commander of the IDF's Central Command. His article called "To Win and Remain Human: Challenges of the Central Command during 2015-2016 Wave of Terror" was published in Dado Center Journal (The IDF Journal on Operational Art).

Airport COVID commissioner

In June 2021, Numa was appointed by Prime Minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minis ...

to the new position of

Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is the ...

's COVID commissioner. On August 30, Numa threatened to resign due to his "decisions and recommendations not being adopted in practice" by the government."Airport COVID Commissioner: 'I have no reason to remain in the role'"
(Hebrew). ''

Kikar HaShabbat Kikar HaShabbat ( he, כיכר השבת, lit., "Sabbath Square"), known in the Haredi community as Kikar HaShabbos, is a major intersection joining five streets in Jerusalem, Israel, between Mea Shearim and Geula: Yehezkel Street from the no ...

'', August 30, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Numa, Roni 1966 births Israeli generals Living people Israeli military personnel