Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot (2015-2019)

In 1978, Eisenkot began his military career in the Golani Brigade. In the Golani Brigade, Eisenkot held various commanding positions between 1978 and 1992: squad commander, platoon commander, company commander, the Brigade’s Operations officer, the commander of the Orev platoon, commander of Battalion 13, and Deputy of the Commander of the Brigade.

Between 1992 and 2015, Eisenkot held a series of positions in the military including the commander of a reserve brigade (1992-1993), Commander of the Efraim Regional Brigade (1994-1997), Commander of the Golani Brigade (1997-1998), Military Secretary to the President and Minister of Defense (1999-2001), Commander of the “Am’ud Ha’esh” Division (2001-2003), Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division (2003-2005), Head of the Operations Division (2005-2006), GOC Northern Command (2006-2011), project manager of the General Staff Affairs (2011-2012), and Deputy Chief of the General Staff (2013-2014).

Eisenkot became Chief of the General Staff on February 16, 2015.

Eisenkot was the Chief of General Staff during Operation Good Neighbor—which redefined the IDF’s role in the Middle East—and Operation Northern Shield which not only emphasized the threat of terrorist organizations but also exhibited the strength of the IDF in combating those threats.

Eisenkot completed his term as Chief of the General Staff in January 2019 and retired from the IDF after 41 years of service. He was succeeded as Chief of the General Staff by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi.