Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion 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 ...

Dan Harel ( he, דן הראל; born 1955) is a retired general in the Israel Defense Forces and a former Deputy Chief of the General Staff. Harel served as the Director General of the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

from 2013 to 2016.

Biography

Born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, Harel began his military career in 1974 at the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

flight school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

, however, in 1976 switched to the

Israeli Artillery Corps , ''Tih'cum Ve'otzma'') , song= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= * War of Independence * Sinai War * Six-Day War * War of Attrition * Yom Kippur War * First Lebanon War * Second Lebanon War * Operation Cast Lead * Operation Pro ...

. As he advanced up the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

, Harel participated in the 1982 Lebanon War as a battalion commander. He left the Artillery Corps in 1993 to become the Head of the Operations Department for the General Staff but returned in 1995 as its overall commander. He then served successively as Military Assistant to the Minister of Defense in 1998, an Armored Division commander in 2000, and head of the

Operations Directorate The Israeli Operations Directorate (, ''Agaf HaMivtza'im'') is a branch in the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, established in 1999, alongside the regional commands, the air force and navy. Since June 2021, it is headed by Aluf . Tasks ...

in 2001. During this time Harel attended the US Advanced Artillery Officers' Course and the IDF Brigade Commanders' Course and also received a B.A. in Political Science from the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming ...

. Harel was later appointed head of the Southern Command, a position he held from 2003 to 2006. In this capacity, he not only implemented counterterrorism measures but was also the commander in charge of Israel's Gaza pull-out in the summer of 2005. The withdrawal was largely non-violent, although there was a last-stand of Israeli protesters at the community of

Kfar Darom Kfar Darom ( he, כְּפַר דָּרוֹם, ''lit.'' South Village), was a kibbutz and an Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip. History Kfar Darom was founded on 250 dunams of land (about 25 hectares or 60 acres) pu ...

. While he did not aspire to conduct the operation, Harel carried out the assignment as a self-described "envoy of Israeli democracy". He later credited the mission's success to the nobility of the settlers and the restraint of the IDF troops, stating that now "the unity begins". Yet as rocket and mortar attacks have continued to be launched from the Gaza Strip against Israel, some Israeli papers have begun to criticize him for not planning for this predicted aftermath. Though it was expected that he would retire after the disengagement, Harel was appointed Israel's Defense & Defense Cooperation attaché to Washington in January 2006, replacing Maj. Gen.

Amos Yadlin Aluf (Major General, res.) Amos Yadlin ( he, עמוס ידלין; born 20 November 1951) is a former general in the Israeli Air Force (IAF), Israel Defense Forces military attaché to Washington, D.C. and head of the IDF Military Intelligence Di ...

. On October 1, 2007, he became Deputy Chief of the General Staff replacing Maj. General

Moshe Kaplinsky Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky (Hebrew: משה קפלינסקי; born January 20, 1957) is an Israeli army general and businessman who served as CEO of the Israeli subsidiary of Better Place. Most recently, he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff ...

. In 2011, Harel was the CEO of the Israeli

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. He resigned in October 2011.

Notes

References

Bio from Embassy of IsraelBiof from IDF"Harel appointed next attache' in Washington" by Arieh O'Sullivan ''The Jerusalem Post''
- IDF Spokesman's Unit.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harel, Dan Living people Israeli generals 1955 births University of Haifa alumni People from Haifa Israeli expatriates in the United States