Israel Tal

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Israel Tal
1947–1949 Palestine war, Sinai War, Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War
AwardsIsrael Security Award (1961, 1973)
Israel Prize (1997)

Israel Tal (

Merkava tank
.

Biography

Tal was born in Mahanayim, Mandatory Palestine. On his mother's side he was descended from Hasidic Jews who migrated to Safed and Tiberias in 1777. He lived in Safed from the age of five and lived through the 1929 Palestine riots. [citation needed] Later he lived in moshav Be'er Tuvia.[3]

Tal began his military service at the age of 17, with the British Army's

1947–1949 Palestine war, as a brigade commander during the 1956 Sinai War, an armored-division commander in Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War, and commander of the southern front during the final stages of the Yom Kippur War.[4]

Israel Tal died in Rehovot on 8 September 2010.[4]

Military career

Tal (left) during the Yom Kippur War

Tal, who had been a hero of the

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to attack Egyptian forces. Tal refused to follow the order, insisting that it was an unethical order and requesting authorization for the requested attack from the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court. Such authorization never came. Tal won the argument, but his refusal to follow the order as a practical matter eliminated his chance of being nominated for the position of Chief of Staff to succeed General Elazar.[6][7]

In 1970, the Israeli government decided it needed an independent tank-building capability due to the uncertainty of overseas sales for political reasons. Tal led a development team that took into consideration Israel's battlefield characteristics and lessons learned from previous wars, and began the development and building of Israel's

Merkava tank.[7]

Armor doctrine

Tal with Merkava tank model, 2005

Tal was the creator of the Israeli armored doctrine that led to the Israeli successes in the Sinai surprise attack of the

infantry. Following the 1973 surprise attack, this excessive focus on fast-striking offensive armor left the IDF temporarily without adequate defensive capability. Only in the latter stages of the war (with the aid of a US$1.1 billion airlift, Operation Nickel Grass) did the armor break out and show its potential; General Avraham Adan's armor broke through the Egyptian lines, crossed the Suez Canal and enveloped the Egyptian 3rd Army near Suez
. While the IDF has become a more balanced force since 1973, Tal's development of armored doctrine has been very important to the IDF and has influenced armored doctrines in other parts of the world.

Awards and honours

Major-General Israel Tal memorial in Latrun

Israel Tal was awarded the Eliyahu Golomb Israel Security Award in 1961 and 1973. In 1997, Tal was awarded the Israel Prize for his special contribution to the society and State of Israel.[9]

In 1991, he received an

Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor's "Wall of Greatest Armor Commanders" along with compatriot Moshe Peled, Americans George S. Patton and Creighton Abrams and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tal's official CV on the IDF's Armoured Corps commemoration site (in Hebrew)". Archived from the original on 2012-12-16.
  2. ^ Senyor, Eli (1995-06-20). "Father of Merkava tank dies at 86 - Israel News, Ynetnews". Ynetnews. Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  3. ^ a b Major General Israel Tal obituary, The Guardian, September 20, 2010
  4. ^ a b Bronner, Ethan (8 September 2010). "Maj. Gen. Israel Tal, Israeli Military Strategist, Is Dead at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  5. ^ Uri Dan, Ariel Sharon: An Intimate Portrait. Michel Lafon Publishing, 2006. Page 50
  6. ^ Oren, Amir (2008-04-02). "Former top IDF officer, military theorist dies at the age of 86". Haaretz. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  7. ^ a b Hedge, Jim (20 September 2010). "Major General Israel Tal obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  8. ISBN 0-7509-0479-8
  9. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1997 (in Hebrew)". Archived from the original on 2008-12-27.

External links

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