
Haim "Kidoni" Bar-Lev (; 16 November 1924 – 7 May 1994) was a military officer during
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
's pre-state and early statehood eras and later a
government minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
.
Biography
Born Haim Brotzlewsky in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and raised in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, Bar-Lev made
aliyah
''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
to
Mandate Palestine in 1939. From 1942 through 1948, Bar-Lev served in various Jewish military units, such as the
Palmach. He became both a pilot and a
parachutist, which would later serve him in developing both of these military branches in the young
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 ...
.
In 1946, Bar-Lev
blew up the Allenby Bridge near
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
to prevent
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
militiamen in
Trans-Jordan from entering Jewish towns west of the
Jordan River
The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...
. During 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 ...
, Bar-Lev was the commander of the Eighth Battalion (Mechanized) in the
Negev Brigade
The Negev Brigade (, ''Hativat HaNegev''), originally the 12th Brigade is an Israeli Reserve duty (Israel), reserve infantry brigade under the Sinai Division, that originally served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
History
Founding and organizatio ...
, which fought in the southern part of the country and the
Sinai.
During the 1956
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
he commanded the 27th Armored Brigade, which captured the
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 ...
before turning southwest and reaching the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
. By 1964 he became of Director of Operations within 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 ...
(IDF).
During the June 1967
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the IDF. Israeli Chief of Staff General Chaim Bar-Lev initiated the construction of defensive structures along the Canal, despite advice from several seasoned commanders. However, Israeli commanders did not prioritize determining whether the '
Bar-Lev Line' served as merely a 'trip-wire', as later asserted, or constituted a comprehensive defensive barrier.
Between 1968 and 1971, Bar-Lev served as IDF's Chief of General Staff, which made him the highest-ranking military officer.
During the October 1973
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 ...
, although retired from the IDF and serving as the
Minister of Trade and Industry, he was recalled by Prime Minister
Golda Meir
Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government.
Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...
back into military service to replace
Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen as chief of the
Southern Command, which defended 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 ...
. Bar-Lev played a pivotal role in the war. Before his appointment the Southern front was in disarray to the point of near total collapse and Gonen was proving unable to effectively control the situation. Bar-Lev immediately took charge and worked towards stabilizing the front. His political and negotiating skills also proved instrumental in controlling his field generals who were feuding amongst themselves since each had their own notions, sometimes competing ones, regarding how the war in the South should be carried out. The effect that Bar-Lev's arrival had on the chaotic Southern command headquarters was described by Gonen's deputy,
Uri Ben-Ari, in testimony to the Israeli military's historical department:
Bar-Lev brought calmness on all of us. Finally there was a feeling that we had a real commander in charge. This feeling spread between us and later also in the battlefield radios like fire. Bar-Lev also managed to calm Gorodish down. Prior to his arrival, general staff meetings were one loud shout out of Gorodish's mouth. Bar Lev instituted orderly working routines. No one challenged his authority. The country owes much to him. "Dvelah" went back to being a real war-room, a compartmentalized one. No one ho did not belong therewas allowed entry. Serenity descended on the war room. The general staff officers switched to carrying out their tasks in well organized shifts. Even Arik riel Sharon
Riel may refer to:
Places
*Riel, Netherlands, a town in the Netherlands
*Riel (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, named after Louis Riel
*Riel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; a community committee comprising thr ...
s tone of voice changed when Bar Lev arrived.
Political career
Bar-Lev remained Minister of Trade and Industry until the
Alignment
Alignment may refer to:
Archaeology
* Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks
* Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones
Biology
* Struc ...
government was defeated and replaced by the
Likud
Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
under the leadership of
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel.
Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
following the
1977 elections, in which Bar-Lev was elected to the Knesset for the first time. Between 1977 and 1984 he served as General Secretary of the
Labor Party, the largest faction in the Alignment. When the Alignment joined the national unity governments that held office between 1984 and 1990, Bar-Lev served as
Minister of Police and as a member of the "inner cabinet". He retired from the Knesset at the time of the
1992 elections, and was appointed ambassador to Russia, serving until 1994.
He died 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 ...
on 7 May 1994.
His son
Omer Bar-Lev
Omer Israel Bar-Lev (; born 2 October 1953) is an Israeli politician who formerly served as Ministry of Public Security (Israel), Minister of Public Security. He was previously a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party. He was placed se ...
is an Israeli politician member of the
Labor Party.
See also
*
List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff
References
*
*
External links
*
* by
Leon Charney on The Leon Charney Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bar-Lev, Haim
1924 births
1994 deaths
Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to Mandatory Palestine
Palmach members
People of the Suez Crisis
Ambassadors of Israel to Russia
Austrian Zionists
20th-century Israeli Jews
Deaths from cancer in Israel
Israeli Labor Party politicians
Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Alignment (Israel) politicians
Ministers of development of Israel
Ministers of public security of Israel
Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)
Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984)
Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)
Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992)
Columbia University alumni