Moshe Levi

Moshe Levi (משה לוי)
Born	1936 Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Died	January 8, 2008 Afula, Israel
Allegiance	Israel
Service/branch	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1954–1987
Rank	Rav Aluf

Moshe Levi (Hebrew: משה לוי‎) (1936 – January 8, 2008) was an Israeli military commander and the 12th chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He served in this position from 1983 to 1987. He was the first chief of staff of Mizrahi origin.

Biography

Levy, born in Tel Aviv to an Iraqi-Jewish family, was known by his army nickname Moshe VaHetzi (Hebrew: משה וחצי‎ ("Moshe and a half") because of his towering height.^[1]

He was drafted into the army in 1954 and served in the Golani infantry brigade. After completing his officers' course, Levy joined the paratroops, and in 1956 he took part in the Mitla Pass parachute drop.^[2]

Levy was promoted to chief of staff in 1983, succeeding Rafael Eitan. During his tenure, he presided over the IDF withdrawal in Lebanon in 1985 and oversaw the redeployment of Israeli troops and the creation of the security zone in South Lebanon.

Levy helped to found the IDF ground forces branch.^[2] He created two new brigades: the Nahal and Givati brigades.^[3]

After retiring from the army, Levy returned to his home on Kibbutz Beit Alfa in northern Israel. In his last years, he was the founding chairperson of the supervisory board of Highway 6, also known as the Trans-Israel Highway.

Levy was married twice and was survived by five children and five grandchildren.

On January 1, 2008, Levy suffered a massive stroke, his second, and died eight days later of a brain aneurysm at HaEmek Medical Center in Afula.^[3]

Popular culture

In a sketch by the HaGashash HaHiver comedy trio, Moshe Levy is referred to as Musa Wanus (Moshe and a half in Arabic).

See also

• List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff

References

External links

• Obituary in The Times, 17 January 2008

Heads of Central Command Ayalon (1948–52) Avidar (1952–53) Ayalon (1954–56) Tzur (1956–58) Amit (1958–59) Geva (1960–66) Narkis (1966–68) Ze'evi (1968–72) Efrat (1973–77) Levi (1977–81) Or (1981–83) Lipkin-Shahak (1983–86) Barak (1986–87) Mitzna (1987–89) Mordechai (1989–91) Yatom (1991–93) Tamari (1993–94) Yatom (1994) Biran (1994–95) Dayan (1996–98) Ya'alon (1998–2000) Eitan (2000–02) Kaplinsky (2000–04) Naveh (2005–07) Shamni (2007–09) Mizrahi (2009–12) Alon (2012–)

Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Tzvi Ayalon (1948–49) Mordechai Maklef (1949–52) Haim Laskov (1955–56) Tzvi Tzur (1958) Yitzhak Rabin (1961–63) Haim Bar-Lev (1967–68) Israel Tal (1973) Yekutiel Adam (1978–82) Moshe Levi (1982–83) David Ivry (1983–85) Dan Shomron (1985–86) Amir Drori (1986–87) Ehud Barak (1987–91) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1991–94) Matan Vilnai (1994–97) Shaul Mofaz (1997–98) Uzi Dayan (1998–99) Moshe Ya'alon (1999–2002) Gabi Ashkenazi (2002–04) Dan Halutz (2004–05) Moshe Kaplinsky (2005–07) Dan Harel (2007–09) Benny Gantz (2009–10) Yair Naveh (2010–13) Gadi Eizenkot (2013–2014) Yair Golan (2014–present)

Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Yaakov Dori (1947–49) Yigael Yadin (1949–52) Mordechai Maklef (1952–53) Moshe Dayan (1953–58) Haim Laskov (1958–61) Tzvi Tzur (1961–64) Yitzhak Rabin (1964–68) Haim Bar-Lev (1968–72) David Elazar (1972–74) Mordechai Gur (1974–78) Rafael Eitan (1978–83) Moshe Levi (1983–87) Dan Shomron (1987–91) Ehud Barak (1991–95) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1995–98) Shaul Mofaz (1998–2002) Moshe Ya'alon (2002–05) Dan Halutz (2005–07) Gabi Ashkenazi (2007–2011) Benny Gantz (2011–2015) Gadi Eizenkot (2015–present)