The Chief Of Staff Medal of Appreciation ( he, אות הערכה מטעם הרמטכ"ל) is an Israeli military decoration. The medal was instituted in 1981. It is awarded to both civilians and military personnel who contribute to the strengthening of the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

or the security of Israel; the medal could also be awarded to foreign civilians. The medal's most well-known recipient is the Israeli

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Ilan Ramon Ilan Ramon ( he, אילן רמון; , born Ilan Wolfferman ; June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. Ramon was a Space Shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of ...

, who was awarded the medal after his death during a mission of the

Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the Columbia Rediviva, first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the ...

. It has since been given 10 times; 4 posthumously, 2 group awards ( Iron Dome and Patriot missile defense soldiers), and the rest to individuals (most of them American).

Design

The medal is round; on the front there is a

Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

with an olive branch and a sword rest on its left; the reverse is plain. The medal is attached to a white ribbon with two blue strips on the edges, similar to those on the

Israeli flag The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the Israel, State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizo ...

Notable recipients

Notable recipients include: * Colonel

, IAF (posthumously) * General

Martin Dempsey Martin “Marty” Edward Dempsey (born March 14, 1952), is a retired United States Army general who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2011 until September 25, 2015. He previously served as the 37th chief o ...

, USA (Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff) * General Joseph Dunford, USMC (Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff) * Members of the Kiryat Arba Emergency Response Team for

2002 Hebron ambush The 2002 Hebron ambush took place in the Wadi an-Nasara neighborhood in Hebron in the West Bank on 15 November 2002. Israeli forces were subjected to a double attack by fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The battle was referred to in I ...

** Yitzhak Buanish (posthumously) ** Alexander Zwitman (posthumously) ** Alexander Dohan (posthumously) ** Elijah Libman * Operation Protective Edge units ** Iron Dome units ** Technological unit of the Military Intelligence Directorate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chief Of Staff Medal Of Appreciation Military awards and decorations of Israel Civil awards and decorations of Israel 1981 establishments in Israel Awards established in 1981