Avigdor Kahalani
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| Avigdor Kahalani | |
|---|---|
| born 16 June, 1944 | |
| Place of birth | Ness Ziona, Mandate Palestine |
| Allegiance | IDF |
| Years of service | 1962 to 1992 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands held | 77 Battalion 7th Brigade 36th Division |
| Battles/wars | Six-Day War Yom Kippur War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal Medal of Valor |
Brigadier-General (Tat Aluf) Avigdor Kahalani (Hebrew: אביגדור קהלני, born 16 June 1944) is a former Israeli soldier and politician.
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[edit] Background
Kahalani was born in Ness Ziona during the Mandate era. He studied at Tel Aviv University, gaining a B.A. in History, before going on to Haifa University, where he studied for an M.A. in Political Science. He also attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and graduated from the National Defense College.
[edit] IDF career
Kahalani was a career officer in the IDF, achieving the rank of Brigadier-General. In the Yom Kippur War (1973), he served as commander of an armored battalion on the Golan Heights. Kahalani received the Medal of Distinguished Service for service during the Six Day War, and the Medal of Valor for service during the Yom Kippur War. During this war he commanded a hastily assembled group of tanks and crews from different armour units (The Israeli forces were in a disjointed state due to the surprise combined Arab attack which commenced the war). The group repelled a vastly superior Syrian force which had overrun the Israeli positions in the first days of the war, in the Golan Heights region of northern Israel. The battle proved to be one of the turning points of the war. After the war, the valley where it took place was littered with dozens of burned Syrian tanks and was renamed "Emek Ha-Bacha" ("valley of tears").
[edit] Political career
| Avigdor Kahalani | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Knesset(s) | 13th, 14th |
| Party | Third Way |
| Former parties | Labour |
| Gov't roles (current in bold) |
Minister of Internal Security |
After leaving the IDF, Kahalani made his way into politics. He served as Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, and was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Labour Party in the 1992 election, he served on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense and the Education and Culture Committees. He has been active in the Committee for the Rescue of Jews from Yemen and Chairman of the Golan Lobby in the Knesset. He is also chairman of the Friends of LIBI Foundation and president of the Israeli Association for Drug Rehabilitation.
During the Knesset session, Kahalani broke away from the Labour Party and founded The Third Way with Emanuel Zisman. The new party won four seats in the 1996 elections , and joined Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition, with Kahalani made Minister of Internal Security.
However, in the 1999 elections the party failed to cross the electoral threshold and Kahalani lost his seat.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader's War on the Golan (1975)
- A Warrior's Way (1989)
[edit] Sources
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Official biography)
