Mordechai Maklef
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mordechai (Motke) Maklef (or Makleff) ( he, מרדכי (מותקה) מקלף; 1920–1978) was the third
Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
(IDF) and later, director-general of many important public companies in the Israeli economy.


Early life

Makleff was born in the village of
Motza Motza, also Mozah or Motsa, ( he, מוֹצָא, ar, موتسا) is a neighbourhood on the western edge of West Jerusalem. It is located in the Judean Hills, 600 metres above sea level, connected to Jerusalem by the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway ...
, near
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in the
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...
in 1920. His parents were among the founders of this first modern village outside Jerusalem, located along the road to Jaffa. During the
1929 Palestine riots The 1929 Palestine riots, Buraq Uprising ( ar, ثورة البراق, ) or the Events of 1929 ( he, מאורעות תרפ"ט, , ''lit.'' Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), was a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 in which a longst ...
, inhabitants of the neighbouring
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
village of
Qalunya Qalunya ( ar, قالونيا, also transliterated Qaluniya) was a Palestinian village located west of Jerusalem. Prior to the village's destruction in 1948, with the exception of 166 dunams, Qalunya's land was privately owned: 3,594 dunams were o ...
attacked the Makleff home, which was located along the perimeter of Motza, and killed the entire family, except the young Mordechai, who managed to escape the massacre by jumping from a second story window. The murderers included a shepherd employed by the family and the local policeman, who was the only person in the area to own a gun. The murder shocked the Jewish population of Palestine, and was one of the most remembered rioting events. With his immediate family now dead, Mordechai Makleff was raised by relatives in Jerusalem and
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 ...
.


Military career

As a teen, Makleff was active in the
Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
and in
Orde Wingate Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World ...
's Night Raiders unit. With the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he enlisted in the
Palestine Regiment The Palestine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that was formed in 1942. During the Second World War, the regiment was deployed to Egypt and Cyrenaica, but most of their work consisted of guard duty. Some Palestine Regiment mem ...
of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and fought in the
North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and Italian campaigns. He was commissioned from the rank of
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
in July 1942. Upon his release from the army with the rank of
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in August 1946, he remained in Europe, engaged in illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine and acquiring arms for the emerging
Jewish state In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland of the Jewish people. Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewish people. It ...
. He later returned to Palestine and rejoined the Haganah. During the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, Makleff fought in the
Carmeli Brigade 2nd "Carmeli" Brigade (Hebrew: חטיבת כרמלי, Hativat Carmeli, former 165th Brigade) is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, part of the Northern Command. Today the brigade consists of four battalions, including one recon ...
, as its senior operation officer and later as brigade commander, participating in battles near Haifa and
Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
. He also took part in
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) forces ...
, in which Jewish forces captured the entire
Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
region for Israel. After the war, he headed the Israeli delegation to talks with
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
and
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. In November 1949, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to
Yigael Yadin Yigael Yadin ( he, יִגָּאֵל יָדִין ) (20 March 1917 – 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, soldier and politician. He was the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Deputy Prime Minister from 1977 to 1981. B ...
and senior operations officer of the IDF. Following Yadin's resignation in 1952, Makleff, then just 32 years old, was appointed to replace him as Chief of Staff. He agreed to accept the position for a period of one year only. His tenure as Chief of Staff was marked by his battles with the Ministry of Defence, and in particular with
Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...
.
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...
commented in his diary "I had the clear impression that M. suffered from an inferiority complex and suspected that his authority was being undermined". Makleff resigned on 11 October 1953, after repeated demands that relations between the army and the Ministry of Defence be reformed. During that time, Israel was faced with increasing attacks from ''
fedayeen Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
'', Palestinian raiders from the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, who attacked Israeli border settlements. In response to this, Makleff appointed Major
Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...
to form a
commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
unit to attack the ''fedayeen'' bases across the border and put an end to the attacks on Israeli civilians. Sharon, in turn, created
Unit 101 Commando Unit 101 ( he, יחידה 101) was a special forces unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), founded and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. They were armed with non-standard weapons ...
, which conducted a lengthy series of retaliatory raids throughout 1953, when it was merged into the
Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...
. He was also responsible for the establishing of Unit 131 which set up clandestine cells in Arab states to be activated in the event of war. A year later, the cell in Egypt was exposed in events that led to the Lavon Affair.Peri. Page 237.


Civilian career

On 7 December 1953, exactly one year after he assumed the position, Maklef resigned as Chief of Staff. He went on to serve in a number of key positions in the Israeli public sector. From 1955 to 1968, he was Director General of the
Dead Sea Works The Dead Sea Works ( he, מפעלי ים המלח, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel. History Under the British administration, concessions from the Mandatory government were given ...
, developing the local
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
industry in that region. He also served as Director General of the Citrus Marketing Board and
Israel Chemicals ICL Group Ltd. (Hebrew: איי.סי. אל. גרופ בע"מ) (formerly Israel Chemicals Ltd., ICL) is a multi-national manufacturing concern that develops, produces and markets fertilizers, metals and other special-purpose chemical products. I ...
. Maklef died from a heart attack in Germany in 1978, and was buried in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul, Israel.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maklef, Mordechai 1920 births 1978 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers Jews in Mandatory Palestine Palestine Regiment officers People from Jerusalem Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II Jewish Brigade personnel Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery