Uri Sagi (; born 5 August 1943) is an Israeli retired general who held several prominent posts including commander of the

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 ...

and chief of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate. In 2000–2003 Uri Sagi was the CEO of

Mekorot Mekorot (, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with approx. 80% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply network kno ...

, Israel's national water company.

Biography

Uri Sagi was born in

Kiryat Bialik Kiryat Bialik (, also Qiryat Bialik) is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. The city was established on July 18, 1934, during the Fifth Aliyah. It is one of the five Krayot suburbs to the north of Haifa. In it had a population of . The city ...

during the Mandate era, a seventh generation native of Palestine. He is married to Gila and has three children. He had a fourth daughter born outside of marriage who died of leukemia at age 19. In 2012, years after his active military service, Sagi ran for the Awoda in the Knesset election. After allegations against him of sexual misconduct were brought before the party leadership in the mid-1970s, he withdrew his candidacy for the list.

Military service

Sagi was drafted into the IDF in 1961 and did his military service in the

, of which he became commander in 1976-1977. He served in the Brigade as a soldier, a

squad leader ''Squad Leader'' is a tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of the most complex war games of its time, ''Squ ...

. In 1963 he became an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

officer after completing

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

and return to the Golani Brigade. In The Six Day War he served as a

company commander A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are made up of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and struc ...

in Golani Brigade's 51 battalion and fought in the Golan Heights. Afterwards he commanded Golani Brigade's

Reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

company during the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

. Sagi led Golani Brigade's 13 battalion and served as in the IDF's

Operations Directorate The Israeli Operations Directorate (, ''Agaf HaMivtza'im'', abbreviated as ( ''Agam'') is the Operations (military staff), operations branch in the Israeli General Staff, General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. It was established in 1999, al ...

during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. Sagi commanded the

and led a force of officers and soldiers from the brigade in

Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid, also known as the Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (also retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to th ...

. Afterwards he commanded the 36th Division, the IDF's Southern Command, the

GOC Army Headquarters The GOC Army Headquarters (, ''Mifkedet Zro'a HaYabasha'', abbreviated Mazi), is a multi-corps command headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current size of the Israeli Ground Forces is estimated at 126,000 active ...

. In 1991 he was appointed as the chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate. Sagi

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1995. Amir Oren
Former Israeli Intelligence Chief: Netanyahu and Barak Dangerously Stoking Flames of War
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', August 17, 2012.

''The Spy Machine''

In 1998 he appeared in the documentary special '' The Spy Machine'', produced by

Open Media Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series ''After Dark (TV series), After Dark'', described in the national press as "the most original programme on television". The company was founded in 1987 ...

and Israfilm and shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagi, Uri 1943 births Living people Directors of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel) Israeli generals Israeli Jews Operation Entebbe Tel Aviv University alumni University of Haifa alumni