Yiftah Ron-Tal ( he, יפתח רון-טל; born 1956) is the director of the

Israel Electric Corporation Israel Electric Corporation ( he, חברת החשמל לישראל, abbreviation: IEC) is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub- ...

, former head of the

Israel Port Authority The Israel Ports Authority (רשות הספנות והנמלים) is the governmental agency which supervises and regulates the operation of Israel's seaports in Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat. It is located in Tel Aviv. History The authority was set u ...

and former major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Biography

Ron-Tal was born on Netiv HaLamed-Heh, a kibbutz in the

Elah valley The Valley of Elah or Ella Valley ("the valley of the terebinth"; from the he, עמק האלה ''Emek HaElah''), called in ar, وادي السنط, Wadi es-Sunt, is a long, shallow valley in Israel and the West Bank best known as the place des ...

in central

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Drafted in 1974 into the Israeli Armored Corps, he became commander of the IDF Ground Forces Command. After leaving the military, Ron-Tal headed the

and, as of 2011, he was serving as head of the Israel Electric Corporation.

Controversy

On October 4, 2006, he said publicly that IDF Chief of Staff

Dan Halutz Dan Halutz ( he, דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007. Biog ...

should accept responsibility for malfunctions in the

Israel-Hezbollah War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

and accept the consequences. He hinted that

i PM Ehud Olmert should do the same. "Those who directed this war must take responsibility," Ron-Tal said on Israel Radio, "We did not win this war, and it is proper that those who directed it should take responsibility". He also said that employing the IDF to evacuate settlers from the Gaza Strip Israeli Settlements in 2005 was a grave mistake because it had seriously degraded the army's combat capabilities. Following these remarks, he was discharged from the IDF while on leave after 33 years of service, two months prior to retirement. The Israeli media reported though that Ron-Tal had sent a letter of resignation prior to being fired. While the comments themselves were not the most vitriolic heard since the end of the Israel-Hezbollah war, Ron-Tal was roundly criticized for making them while still in uniform. Even though Ron-Tal was on a final leave of absence before leaving the army, orders state that active soldiers are forbidden from giving interviews to the media without permission from the

IDF Spokesperson's Unit The IDF Spokesperson's Unit ( he, דובר צה"ל, ''Dover Tsahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general a ...

, especially resenting opinions about the army and politics. He was the second general officer to criticize Halutz while in uniform over the war, the first being Ilan Harari. In a previous controversial interview in 2003, he had advocated the liquidation of PLO chairman

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ron-Tal, Yiftah Israeli generals 1956 births Living people Israeli businesspeople Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Kibbutzniks