Chico Tamir is seen in Israel as one of the best field commanders (social networking sites)
A prominent Israeli soldier, born in 1964, is considered by some Israelis to be “one of the best and most experienced field commanders in the areas of operations of the Northern Command and Lebanon.” Others believe that he accumulated failures and caused the death of a number of his soldiers because of the “failure of his plans.”
He held military positions, the most important of which were command of the Golani Brigade and command of the Gaza Division.
He was dismissed from the army in 2009 due to negligence, after his son committed an accident with a military vehicle. He was reappointed in 2022 to lead the ground invasions in Gaza, and he was considered the architect of the Israeli ground operations that followed the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy assigned him in 2024 to plan a ground operation in Lebanon.
Origin and scientific training
Moshe (Chico) Tamir was born in 1964 in Israel.
He comes from a military family. His father was a lieutenant colonel, who served in the 13th Squadron in the occupation army, and his grandfather, Moshe, was an officer in the Israeli army, and he was killed during the 1948 war.
Tamir studied at the Military Boarding School for Leadership in Haifa, then participated in the officers’ course and graduated with honors.
He also graduated from the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern affairs from the University of Haifa, and a master's in business administration from the Herzliya Center.
His military experience
He joined the Israeli army in November 1982, and worked in the Golani Brigade within the 13th “Gideon” Battalion. He then rose through the ranks within the brigade, where he was a platoon leader at the brigade’s training base, then he assumed leadership positions, becoming a company commander between 1986 and 1987. .
In 1989, he was appointed commander of the Golani Patrol. He then served as an officer in the Hiram formation in the Galilee region in 1992. He was promoted the following year to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was appointed commander of the 12th Battalion (Barak) of the Golani Brigade.
He assumed his duties as operations officer in the Northern Command in 1995, and under his leadership, Operation “Grapes of Wrath” was carried out against Hezbollah’s military force in Lebanon. Later, in 1997 and 1998, he headed the elite “Aghuz” division, which was formed by the commander of the Northern Command at the time, Amiram Levin. To carry out military operations in Lebanon in the manner of guerrilla warfare against Hezbollah.
Tamir led the unit's operations, which led to the killing of party cadres and leaders, and Hadi, the son of Hassan Nasrallah, the party's Secretary-General, was also killed.
In honor of him for the services and achievements he provided to the occupation army during his service in the northern regions, the commander of the Northern Brigade in the Israeli army at the time, Amiram Levin, awarded him the “Medal of Courage” in May 1998.
In 2001, he was appointed commander of the Golani Brigade, through which he participated in Operation “Defensive Shield” in 2002, which Israel launched to eliminate the Second Intifada, in which it attacked villages and cities of the West Bank. Tamir was among those who occupied the “Al-Qasba” neighborhood in the Old City of the city. Nablus, and also led the storming of Jenin camp and Ramallah.
In August 2006, he served as commander of the Gaza Division, where he led the ground invasions into the Strip during that period.
Tamir is viewed in part of the Israeli circle with appreciation for his combat career in the Golani Brigade, and Defense Minister Yoav Galant previously praised Tamir's military achievements and considered them "creative successes," but others see that he has a long record of military failures.
In 2005, the general published a book entitled “War Without a Sign,” in which he recounted the military incidents that took place in Lebanon from his point of view as a fighter and leader, from his recruitment until his withdrawal from the region, in the period between 1982 and 2000.
Failures in military history
His military record was marked by professional failures and mistakes that led to the deaths of Israeli soldiers and members of international forces, the most notable of which were:
Two Israeli soldiers were killed by an electric shock due to a malfunction in the equipment at a military site near the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon in 1993, when Tamir was commander of the “Barak” company.
100 civilians, most of them children, and 4 UN soldiers were killed, as a result of the bombing of a UN school in southern Lebanon, during the “Grapes of Wrath” operation that was under his command. Therefore, Tamir was one of the most prominent military personnel who was held responsible for the failure of the aggression to achieve its goals.
12 Israeli soldiers were killed due to an ambush by Hezbollah forces on the naval commando force that was operating under his command in southern Lebanon, when Tamir was commander of the “Agoz” unit.
Dismissal from the army
Tamir was convicted in June 2009 before an Israeli military court, on the grounds that about two years earlier, he allowed his son, then 14 years old, to drive a military vehicle over the sand dunes, during a meeting of Gaza Division officers and their families, which resulted in the vehicle colliding with a civilian vehicle.
The accident caused minor damage to the two vehicles, and did not result in any human casualties. Tamir tried to cover up the incident by holding his driver responsible, but the matter was discovered, so he was sentenced to 3 months in prison with a suspended sentence, and his military rank was demoted from brigadier general to colonel.
Dozens of reserve soldiers and a number of former Israeli army generals protested the court’s decision, and sent a petition to then Defense Minister Ehud Barak and then Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, to support Tamir before the court.
In November 2009, a military court accepted the appeal of the case and overturned the military court of first instance’s decision to demote him in rank, given his meritorious military service record and sincere remorse for the incident, but at the same time recommended that he be ineligible for promotion for two years.
At that time, Ashkenazi dismissed the brigadier general, ordered him not to be appointed to another position, and was transferred to the reserve, effectively ending his military career.
After the dismissal, Tamir continued his career in the business sector, as he served as Vice President of the Defense and Homeland Security Department for Gilat Satellite Networks, which is based in Israel and provides its services around the world.
Back to service
In May 2022, the then Chief of Staff of the occupation army, Aviv Kochavi, appointed General Tamir to lead any upcoming aggression against the Gaza Strip, despite previous statements made by Tamir in 2018, in which he stated that the Israeli army would not be able to invade the Gaza Strip, as he later confirmed. The Israeli army's lack of preparedness for ground war in particular.
Following the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, he was assigned to lead the Israeli ground forces to invade Gaza. He developed military plans for the invasion and led ground operations in the Strip.
In March 2024, Chief of Staff of the occupation army, Herzi Halevy, assigned General Tamir to plan a ground operation in Lebanon, and transferred him from the Gaza Division to the Northern Command.
Positions and responsibilities
Tamir held prominent military positions in the Israeli army, the most important of which are:
Company commander between 1986 and 1987.
Commander of the Golani Patrol between 1989 and 1992.
Commander of the 12th (Barak) Battalion of the Golani Brigade between 1993 and 1995.
Leader of the elite Aguz band in 1997 and 1998.
Commander of the Golani Brigade between 2001 and 2006.
Leader of the Gaza Band between 2006 and 2008.
Commander of the Company and Battalion Commanders Course between 2008 and 2010.
Commander of ground operations in Gaza between 2022 and 2024.
Source: websites