PERSON: Herzi Halevi

Chief of the General Staff

Herzl “Herzi” Halevi (Hebrew: הרצל “הרצי” הלוי; born 17 December 1967) is the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken the oath of office on 16 January 2023.

He previously served as the commander of the Israeli Southern Command, the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, the commander of the 91st (Territorial) Division, the commander of the 35th Paratroopers Brigade, and the commander of the Sayeret Matkal. Halevi was the first practicing Orthodox Jew to serve as the head of Israeli military intelligence.

Herzl (Herzi) Halevi was born in Jerusalem. His father Shlomo was the son of Haim Shalom Halevi (Gordin), a member of the Irgun and the “Battalion for the Defence of the Language,” and Tzila, the daughter of Rabbi Dov-Ber HaCohen Kook and niece of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, the chief rabbi of Israel. He was named after his uncle who died in the battle for Jerusalem in the Six-Day War several months before his birth. Halevi’s mother’s family lived in Jerusalem for 14 generations, while his father’s parents immigrated from Russia. Halevi studied at Himmelfarb religious high school and was a member of the Tzofim religious scouts.

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