Lt. Gen. David Elazar (1972-1974)

Lt. Gen. Elazar was born in Sarajevo, and made aliyah to pre-State Israel in 1940, as part of the Youth Aliyah program. He joined the Palmach and served in the War of Independence. Eventually he was appointed as the commander of the HaPortzim Battalion of the Harel Brigade.

Lt. Gen. David Elazar during the Yom Kippur War. Photo Credit: GPO

After the 1956 Sinai Campaign, Elazar transferred to the Armored Corps, and became its commander in 1961. In 1964, he was appointed Chief of the Northern Command. During the Six Day War, Elazar led the operation to take the Golan Heights from Syria, which led to a ceasefire with Syria and the end of the war.

In 1972, Elazar was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the IDF.

Chief of the General Staff

As soon as Elazar began work as Chief of Staff, Israel was hit with a series of terror attacks. On May 30, 1972, the Japanese Red Army killed 25 civilians and wounded 71 more at an attack on Lod Airport. On September 5, Israeli athletes were murdered at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

In response to these attacks, Lt. Gen. Elazar ordered a strike on Palestinian bases in Syria and Lebanon. The IDF downed three Syrian jets, and killed dozens of terrorists in a heavy artillery barrage. Elazar then ordered Operation Spring of Youth.

Lt. Gen. David Elazar with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir

The Yom Kippur War

On October 1, 1973, Egypt and Syria put their armies on alert. But due to an erroneous intelligence assessment, the IDF responded in a limited way. In the early morning of Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, Gen. Elazar became convinced that war would break out in a matter of hours. His colleagues and superiors, however, thought this unlikely.

When war did break out, Israel was caught by surprise. Elazar maintained his cool throughout the war, and Israel eventually won a tactical victory despite initial setbacks.

Gen. Aviezer Ya’ari, an IDF researcher, credits Elazar with making two important decisions early in the fighting that helped turn the tide of the war. Firstly, the Chief of Staff moved divisional reserve forces from the Jordanian border to the Golan Heights sector. These forces were crucial in preventing the Syrian advance. Secondly, Elazar decided to wait for the Egyptians to make an offensive push before attacking them, to the objections of his field generals. The result was the Battle of Sinai, which was fought on Israel’s terms and weakened Egypt’s position significantly.

Lt. Gen. David Elazar visits IDF soldiers during the Yom Kippur War

After the war, the Agranat Commission called for Elazar to be held accountable for the IDF’s lack of preparation for the war. He immediately resigned from his position.

On April 15, 1976, David Elazar died of a heart attack. He is buried on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem. In 2005, Elazar was voted 107th-greatest Israeli of all time in a poll by Israeli news website Ynet.

Lt. Gen. David Elazar’s grave on Mt. Herzl. The grave to his left belongs to Yoni Netanyahu