Name Surname: Shlomo Gazit
Place and date of birth: Istanbul 1926
Aliya Date: 1933
If not alive, date of death: 2020
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Profession: High ranking soldier (major general), Academician,
Short Biography:
Shlomo Gazit headed the Israel Military Intelligence Directorate as a Major General in the Israel Defense Forces. He later served as the President of Ben-Gurion University and also served as chairman of the Jewish Agency - Sohnut.
Shlomo Gazit was born Shlomo Weinstein in Istanbul in 1926 from a Ukrainian mother and father. Little Shlomo was only 7 years old when the family made aliya to Israel. He joined the “Hagannah” in 1942, when he was a high school student at 16 years old. He joined “Palmah” in 1944 at the age of 18 and served in the “Harel Brigade” during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He participated in the Latrun Wars, fought against the Arab Legion, and later took part in the Yoav Operation.
While serving as the head of the evaluation department in IDF intelligence before the Six Day War, he left the army for a short time to complete his master in history. His education was interrupted when Moshe Dayan brought him to the head of the committee that carried out political, security and economic affairs in the newly conquered territories during the 6-day war. This committee was later named the "Coordination Unit for Operations in the Regions".
Seven years later, Gazit was promoted to Head of Military Intelligence, which he held from 1974 to 1978.
After retiring from Tsahal, he served as President of Ben Gurion University in Beersheba for two cadences of four years, following Yosef Tekoah. Since 1988, he has been a member of the “Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies” at Tel Aviv University.
His brother Mordehay Gazit, 4 years older than him, was a diplomat. Mordehay served as the consultant of Golda Meir, Israeli Embassador in France and General Director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He died in 1916.
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