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 ...

Ehud "Udi" Adam (; born 22 January 1958) is a former

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

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 ...

and the former head of the

Israeli Northern Command The Northern Command (, ''Pikud Tzafon'', often abbreviated to Patzan) is a regional command in the Israel Defense Forces. The command, whose main headquarters is in Safed, is responsible for all the units located between Hermon and Netanya. T ...

Biography

Adam was born 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 ...

to a Mountain Jewish family. His father was General

Yekutiel Adam Yekutiel "Kuti" Adam (; November 3, 1927 – June 10, 1982) was an Israeli general and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He was killed by a Palestinian fighter during the early stage of the Lebanon War, a few days before ...

, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the

(IDF), who was killed during the Lebanon War on June 10, 1982. His great-grandfather, Yekutiel Ravayev, was killed in combat defending

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

in 1916. Adam graduated from Herzliya Hebrew High School, and was conscripted into the IDF in 1976. Adam began his military service with the Israeli Armored Corps. Before becoming the Aluf in charge of the Northern Command in 2005, he was the Director of the Israeli Technological and Logistics Directorate. As head of the Northern Command, Adam led and coordinated Israeli forces 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 ...

during the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict 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 ...

. On August 8, 2006, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky was surprisingly appointed to the Northern Command as a special representative of the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

in response to criticism by the government over the Command's handling of the conflict. Adam announced his resignation on September 13, amid continuing criticism of the war's conduct. Adam has a BA in psychology and sociology 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 ...

, and an MA in strategic studies from the

École Militaire École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

staff college in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He lives in

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

, and is married with three children. Adam served as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense between May 2016 and May 2020.

Notes

References

"New Commander for the Northern Command: Major General Udi Adam" from IDF Official Website

External links

*
Video of Adam's appointment .wmv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Udi Living people Military personnel from Tel Aviv 21st-century Israeli Jews Israeli generals Israeli people of Mountain Jewish descent 1958 births