Haim Bar-Lev (16 November 1924-7 May 1994), born Haim Brotzlewsky, was Chief-of-Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 1968 to 1972 (succeeding Yitzhak Rabin and preceding David Elazar), Minister of Development of Israel in 1984 (succeeding Haim Gvati), and Minister of Public Security from 1984 to 1990 (succeeding Shlomo Hillel and preceding Roni Milo). Bar-Lev was a social democrat as a politician, affiliating with the Alignment and Israeli Labor Party parties, and he was known for keeping control of the chaotic Southern Headquarters during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, leading to Israel's victory over Egypt.
Biography[]
Early military career[]
A young Haim Bar-Lev
Haim Brotzlewsky was born in Vienna, Austria on 16 November 1924 to an Austrian-Jewish family. Brotzlewsky's family emigrated to British Palestine in aliyah in 1939 to flee from persecution by Nazi Germany after the Anschluss, and Brotzlewsky became a pilot and parachutist in the Palmach and Haganah Jewish rebel organizations, in addition to serving in the British Army, all after 1942. In 1946 he blew up the Allenby Bridge to stop Arab fedayeen from advancing and he served in the Negev Brigade of the newly-formed Israel Defense Force (IDF) during the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence. During the Suez Crisis he commanded the IDF 27th Armored Brigade and captured Gaza City and al-Arish in Egypt during late October and early November of 1956, holding the rank of colonel.
IDF chief-of-staff[]
Haim Bar-Lev was appointed to the post of Chief-of-Staff of the IDF in 1968 and proposed the construction of a large sand dune line in the Suez to prevent an Egyptian Army invasion. However, in 1973 the Bar-Lev Line was literally hosed down by Egyptian troops and Egypt invaded the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War, a year after Bar-Lev left office as Chief-of-Staff. Bar-Lev took command of the Southern Command and managed to restore calm to the panicked generals, who argued among themselves; Bar-Lev mustered up all of the strength that the command had, and he proceeded to sweep across the Sinai Peninsula, crushing the Egyptian forces in the IDF's path and driving up to the Suez Canal. From 1977 to 1991, he was affiliated with the social democratic Alignment party in the Knesset, and he was an Israeli Labor Party member from 1991 to 1992. Bar-Lev served in several cabinet positions, including Minister of Trade and Industry (1972-77), Minister of Development (1974), and Minister of Police (1984-1990). He died in 1994 at the age of 69.