Mordechai Gur

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Lt. Gen. Mordechai "Motta" Gur (May 6, 1930 - July 16, 1995) was an Israeli politician and the 10th Chief of Staff of the IDF .

Mordechai Gur was born in Jerusalem on May 6, 1930. He later joined the Haganah (the underground armed group of the Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine) and continued serving in a military capacity with the founding of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the Israeli War of Independence of 1948.

1 Military career
2 Civilian and political career
3 Death
4 Bibliography
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Military career

In the IDF, Gur served in the Paratroopers Brigade most of his career and became one of the symbols of the "red beret" brigade. During the 1950s he was a company leader under the command of Ariel Sharon. He was wounded during a counter-terror raid in Khan Yunis in 1955 and received a recommendation of honor from Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan. In 1957 he was appointed as adjutant to the brigade commander. After serving in this position Gur went to study at the École Militaire in Paris.

After he returned he was appointed as the commander of the Golani Brigade (1961-1963) and commanded the counter-terror raid in Nukiev. In 1965 he was appointed as the head of the operations branch in the general staff of the IDF. He later also served as a commander of the IDF commanders' school.

In 1966 Gur was appointed as the commander of the Paratroopers' Reserves' Brigade, which he led during the Six-Day War (1967). Gur and his troops were part of the assault force which wrested Jerusalem from the Jordanians, and which were the first to visit the Western Wall (ha-Kotel ha-Maaravi) and the Temple Mount (Har ha-Bait). The pictures of paratroopers crying at the Kotel and Gur's audio recording in the communication networks "הר הבית בידינו" ("The Temple Mount is in our hands!") became one of the most touching symbols of this war to the Israeli public.

After the war he was promoted to Brigadier General's rank and was appointed as the IDF commander in the Gaza Strip and northern Sinai Peninsula. In 1969 he was promoted to Major General and was appointed as the commander of the northern front, where Palestinian terrorists from the PLO, backed by Syria attacked Israel's northern settlements. Gur led several counter-attacks to reign in the terror attacks, conquering Har Dov from Syria in order to establish a defensive position to prevent border attacks.

From August 1972 to December 1973 he served as the IDF military attache at Israel's Washington DC, embassy. In January 1974 he was reappointed as the commander of the northern front.

Following the retirement of General David Elazar due to the criticism of the Agranat Commission he was appointed in April 1974 as the 10th IDF Chief of Staff. He served in that position until 1978.

Area 21, a military base in the Sharon region, was named in his name (Camp Mota Gur).

[edit] Civilian and political career

In 1978 he was appointed as the general manager of Kur Mechanica company. During 1981-1992 he was a Knesset member on behalf of the Israeli Labor Party. He served as Health Minister (1984-1986), chairman of the directorate of the board of Solel Bone construction company (1986-1988) and was also a member of the Knesset's Security and Foreign Affairs Committee.

In 1992 he was appointed as deputy Minister of Defense and was handed the responsibility of preparing the Israeli economy for times of war and crisis. His other duty was to interact with the Jewish settlers in Yesha (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip).

[edit] Death

In 1995, Gur became ill with terminal cancer. Amidst great suffering he committed suicide with his personal handgun. He died on July 16, 1995 at the age of 65 [1].