The Northern Command ( he, פִּקּוּד צָפוֹן, ''Pikud Tzafon'', often abbreviated to Patzan) is 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 ...

regional

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

responsible for the northern border with

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 ...

and

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 lie ...

History

During the wars in the 1960s and 70s, the Northern Command was in charge of the campaigns directed against

on the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

and the Lebanese border. During the 1970s and 80s, it mainly faced attacks from the PLO, which was driven to southern Lebanon following

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...

. Beginning with the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First L ...

, the Northern Command faced attacks from

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, a Lebanese militant group founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. During 2000, the Northern Command completed its withdrawal from the Security Zone in southern Lebanon and was dispatched along the UN-sanctioned border. Although

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 ...

's withdrawal from southern Lebanon has been met with UN approval, Hezbollah continues its attacks, mainly in the Shebaa farms area of Mount Hermon, an area occupied by Israel from Syria and which Hezbollah claims as Lebanese territory.

Units

The Northern Command commands regional units from Mount Hermon in the

, to

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...

, with a significant presence in the

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 Gali ...

and the Golan Heights. * Northern Command in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elev ...

** 36th "Ga'ash/Rage" Armor Division ** 91st "Galil" (Territorial) Division (doubles as reserve infantry division) ** 210th "Bashan" (Territorial) Division (doubles as reserve infantry division) ** 319th "Ha-Mapatz" (Reserve) Armor Division ** 5001st "Northern Golan" Logistic Support Unit ** 5002nd "Lebanon" Logistic Support Unit ** 5003rd "Southern Golan" Logistic Support Unit ** Northern Command Signal Battalion ** Northern Command Engineering Unit ** Northern Command Intelligence Unit ** Northern Command Military Police Unit ** Northern Command Medical Unit ** 651st Maintenance Center

Commanders

* Moshe Carmel (1948–1949) * Yosef Avidar (1949–1952) *

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) dur ...

(1952) *

Asaf Simhoni Asaf Simhoni (Also spelled Asaf Simchoni; he, אסף שמחוני; October 9, 1922 - November 6, 1956) was a major general in the IDF, served as head of Northern Command, Assistant Head of Operations Directorate, and later as the Head of South ...

(1952–1954) * Moshe Tzadok (1954–1956) * Yitzhak Rabin (1956–1959) * Meir Zorea (1959–1962) *

Avraham Yoffe Avraham Yoffe ( he, אברהם יפה, born 25 October 1913, died 11 April 1983) was an Israel general during the Six-Day War. He later entered politics, and served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1974 and 1977. Biography Yoffe ...

(1962–1964) *

David Elazar David "Dado" Elazar ( he, דוד אלעזר; 27 August 1925 – 15 April 1976) was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kipp ...

(1964–1969) * Mordechai Gur (1969–1972, 1974) *

Yitzhak Hofi Yitzhak Hofi ( he, יצחק חופי‎; 25 January 1927 – 15 September 2014) was a member of the Palmach, IDF General, chief of the Northern Command (Israel), and director of the Mossad. Life Hofi was born in Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah ...

(1972–1974) *

Rafael Eitan Rafael "Raful" Eitan ( he, רפאל "רפול" איתן, born 11 January 1929 – 23 November 2004) was an Israeli general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (Ramatkal) and later a politician, a Knesset member, and government ...

(1974–1977) * Avigdor Ben Gal (1977–1981) * Amir Drori (1981–1983) *

Ori Orr Ori Orr ( he, אורי אור, born 22 April 1939) is an Israeli retired general and politician. During his service with the Israel Defense Forces, he headed the Central and Northern Commands. Afterward, he was elected to the Knesset twice for ...

(1983–1986) *

Yossi Peled Yossi Peled ( he, יוסי פלד, born 18 January 1941) is an Israeli general and politician, the former Aluf of the Northern Command in the Israel Defense Forces. Biography Early life Yossi Peled was born Jozef (Jeffke) Mendelevich in Belgiu ...

(1986–1991) *

Yitzhak Mordechai Yitzhak "Itzik" Mordechai ( he, יצחק מרדכי, born 22 November 1944) is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retire ...

(1991–1994) *

Amiram Levin Amiram Levin ( he, עמירם לוין; born 7 July 1946) is a retired Aluf (Major General) of the Israel Defense Forces. Military and business career Amiram Levin served in Sayeret Matkal and rose to become its commander. He was commander of the ...

(1994–1998) *

Gabi Ashkenazi Gabriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi (; born 25 February 1954) is an Israeli politician and former military leader. He previously served as the Foreign Minister of Israel, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was the Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of Ge ...

(1998–2002) *

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel sin ...

(2002–2005) *

Udi Adam Aluf Ehud "Udi" Adam ( he, אהוד "אודי" אדם; born 22 January 1958) is a former general in the Israel Defense Forces and the former head of the Israeli Northern Command. Biography Adam was born in Tel Aviv to a Mountain Jewish family. ...

(2005–2006) *

Gadi Eizenkot Gadi Eisenkot or Eizenkot ( he, גדי איזנקוט; born 19 May 1960) was the 21st Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (16 February 2015 – 15 January 2019). He is the originator of the so-called Dahiya doctrine. Biography ...

(2006–2011) * Yair Golan (2011–2014) *

Aviv Kochavi Rav-Aluf (Lieutenant General) Aviv Kochavi ( he, אביב כוכבי; born 23 April 1964) is the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken the oath of office on January 15, 2019. He was the commander of the Gaza Division, ...

(2014–2017) * Yoel Strick (2017–2019) * Amir Baram (2019–2022) * Ori Gordin (2022–present)

Notes

{{Israel Defense Forces Regional commands of Israel