31 Facts About Gabi Ashkenazi

Gabriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi is an Israeli politician and former military leader.

Gabi Ashkenazi previously served as the minister of foreign affairs.

Gabi Ashkenazi was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2007 to 2011.

Gabriel Ashkenazi was born to a Bulgarian Jewish and Syrian Jewish family and grew up in Hagor, a moshav, or cooperative agricultural community in the Sharon region of central Israel, of which his parents were among the founders.

Gabi Ashkenazi's father, Yosef Ashkenazi, was a Holocaust survivor who had immigrated to Israel from Bulgaria, while his mother, Freda Jamal, had immigrated from Syria.

Gabi Ashkenazi completed high school at a military boarding school affiliated with the prestigious Gymnasia Herzliya in Tel Aviv.

Gabi Ashkenazi's roommates included Yigal Schwartz, a major figure in Israeli literature, and Yoav Kutner, an acclaimed music editor and journalist.

Gabi Ashkenazi studied at the Tel Aviv Junior Command Preparatory School and the US Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College.

Gabi Ashkenazi was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1972, and served in the Golani Brigade.

Gabi Ashkenazi first saw action in the Sinai Peninsula during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In July 1976, Gabi Ashkenazi was a platoon commander in the force that carried out Operation Thunderbolt, a mission to rescue hostages held in Uganda, but he did not participate in the battle at Entebbe Airport.

Gabi Ashkenazi was wounded in the fighting and left the IDF before being asked to return as a battalion commander two years later.

In 1988, Gabi Ashkenazi was appointed head of Intelligence for Israeli Northern Command.

Gabi Ashkenazi commanded a reserve armor division in the early 1990s and later worked as the chief of Israel's civil administration in Lebanon, and in 1994 was promoted to chief of the General Staff's Operations Directorate.

In 1998, Gabi Ashkenazi was appointed head of the Israeli Northern Command, a position that would make him responsible for Israel's withdrawal from its Security Zone in Southern Lebanon, ending Israel's 18 year presence in the country.

Gabi Ashkenazi criticized the withdrawal, believing that it should have been accompanied by negotiations with Syria.

When Israel began to construct a West Bank barrier in order to physically separate Israeli and Palestinian communities with the purpose of preventing terrorist attacks within Israel, Gabi Ashkenazi was placed in charge of the project.

Gabi Ashkenazi advocated building the barrier as close to the Green Line as possible, a position which would minimize the effects of the barrier on Palestinians.

In early 2005, Gabi Ashkenazi became a leading candidate to replace outgoing chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon.

Gabi Ashkenazi became the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces on February 14,2007.

Gabi Ashkenazi emphasized many intensive military trainings and military exercises, ranging from reinserting basic skills forgotten, up to large multi-corps exercise.

In February 2011, Gabi Ashkenazi retired from the army, and was succeeded by Benny Gantz.

Gabi Ashkenazi reportedly pushed back against an Israeli military strike on Iran in 2010.

In November 2011, Gabi Ashkenazi was appointed chairman of Shemen Oil and Gas Explorations Ltd.

Gabi Ashkenazi served as chairman of the Rashi Foundation from February 2012 to 2021.

In February 2019, the Israel Resilience Party, Telem and the Yesh Atid party announced that Gabi Ashkenazi would be joining their joint list for the 2019 Knesset election named Blue and White.

Gabi Ashkenazi was number four on the new list of candidates, as another representative of the Israel Resilience Party.

In 2020, Gabi Ashkenazi was appointed minister of foreign affairs as a part of the Thirty-fifth government of Israel.

Gabi Ashkenazi officially took his oath of office on 17 May 2020.

Gabi Ashkenazi served in the position until 13 June 2021, when he was replaced by Yair Lapid.

Gabi Ashkenazi left Blue and White in 2021 and did not run for reelection to the Knesset in the 2021 election.