Moshe (Bugi) Yaalon was appointed Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces in 2002. With the appointment, he earned the ranking of lieutenant general, the higest in the Israeli military.
Ayalon was born in 1950 in the Israeli town of Kiryat Haim. He earned a B.A. in political science from Haifa University.
In 1968, Yaalon was drafted and joined the Nahal brigade.
In 1973, he served as a paratrooper in the Yom Kippur War.
From 1979-1982, he was a member of the elite Sayeret Matkal
unit.
In 1982, Yaalon was deputy commander of the paratroop brigade in the Lebanon War
and was wounded in action.
In 1990, he was commander of the Paratroop Brigade.
In 1992 became commander of Israeli military forces in the West Bank and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general.
In 1995 he was promoted to the rank of major general and three years later became commander of the IDF Central Command. In 2000, he served as deputy chief of staff under Shaul Mofaz.
He is married with three children.
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