Yitzhak Pundak (born Yitzhak Fundik ; June 13, 1913 – August 27, 2017) was an Israeli general, diplomat and politician.

Early life

Pundak was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) and immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1933, from Poland.

Military career

Pundak's armed service began with the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

. In 1945, he was an instructor in a platoon commanders' course. In the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, Pundak served in the HISH and

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 ...

as the commander of

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade () is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade formed in 1947. During the 1948 war, it was involved in capturing Palestinian villages in operations ''Hametz'', ''Barak'', and ''Pleshet''. Before Israel's 2005 ...

's 53rd Battalion. He commanded the defense of the villages

Nitzanim Nitzanim () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Nitzanim was established on 8 Decem ...

, Negba, Gat and Gal On, including what was seen as a failure and embarrassing surrender in the June 7, 1948

Battle of Nitzanim The Battle of Nitzanim was fought between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, on June 7, 1948 (29 Iyar, 5708 in the Hebrew calendar). It was the first major Egyptian victory of the war, and one of the ...

. In August 1948, he was appointed chief of the

Oded Brigade The Oded Brigade (), is a unit in the Israel Defense Forces, also known as the 9th Brigade. It is part of the Bashan division in the IDF Northern Command, responsible for the front with Syria. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, it was one of ten brig ...

and participated in

Operation Yoav Operation Yoav (also called Operation Ten Plagues or Operation Yo'av) was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Eg ...

and

Operation Hiram Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the Upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) ...

. In 1951, he founded the independent

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

unit, which split from the Gadna program. In 1952, Pundak traveled to France for a course in armored warfare and returned to the IDF to implement what he learned. He was appointed to head the Armored Corps on December 22, 1953, helping transform it into the Armored Conscriptions () that employed a new doctrine of combining armored and motorized infantry units. The change was officially made on February 3, 1954, and Pundak was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was pressured to end his tenure on July 26, 1956, replaced by

Haim Laskov Haim Laskov (; 1919 – 8 December 1982) was an Israeli public figure and the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Biography Haim Laskov was born in Barysaw in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (present-day Belarus). He i ...

as the armored forces commander. During his lifetime he accused a certain officer within the armored corps of having exploited a failure in the Ordnance Corps and portrayed it as Pundak's personal failure. He also said that he had been promised the rank of 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 ...

) in 1959 but that the promise was broken. In 2013, upon turning 100, he received the rank. In 1971, Pundak returned to the IDF following an appointment by Defense Minister

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...

to the post of governor in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

and

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. During his tenure, he proposed evacuating the Palestinian refugees from Gaza to a new city in the Sinai, but met strong opposition from the Southern Command chief

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

Relations with Ariel Sharon

Pundak served with Major General Ariel Sharon in the Southern Command during his years as governor of the Sinai and Gaza. He generally disapproved of Sharon's actions, saying that Sharon "did one swinish thing after another". He also disagreed with Sharon's methods to fight Palestinian militancy in the Gaza Strip, and instead advocated improving the living conditions in the area.

Shlomo Gazit Shlomo Gazit (; 22 October 1926 – 8 October 2020) was an Israeli military officer and academic. A Major General in the Israel Defense Forces, he headed Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate. He later served as president of Ben-Gurion Univ ...

, a retired IDF general and scholar, writes that the defense minister of the time,

, created the civilian post of governor precisely to limit Sharon's jurisdiction, and appointed Pundak to the position to serve as "an excellent 'watchdog'". The plan had major drawbacks because the two administrations (Sharon's and Pundak's) were at odds and conflicting orders were issued, reducing the system's efficiency. Despite this, Pundak advocated a unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip following the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

, which was eventually carried out by Sharon in 2005. According to the September 2004 edition of ''

The Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serve ...

'', Pundak also criticized

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

for not accepting

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

's peace proposal at the

2000 Camp David Summit The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 an ...

, and said that he would be voting for Sharon in the next election.

Public career

Pundak administrated the Arad Regional Council from June 1962, replacing Aryeh Eliav. In 1965, the Israeli government decided to create a local council in Arad and Pundak was made its first head. He was replaced by Ze'ev Haimoni after an election in 1966. Pundak received his first senior diplomatic post in November 1965 when he was made the Israeli ambassador to

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. He later served as the ambassador responsible for

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, and as the head of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

's delegation to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the height of the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

, after which he retired from all public posts.

Published works

*''Five Missions'' (2000; ) *''A Man for All Generations'' (2005; ) *''Givati Brigade – Battalion 53'' (co-author), 2006;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pundak, Yitzhak 1913 births 2017 deaths Israeli men centenarians Israeli generals Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Ambassadors of Israel to Tanzania Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli military historians Military personnel from Kraków Jewish centenarians