14 Facts About Yekutiel Adam

Yekutiel "Kuti" Adam was an Israeli general and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Yekutiel Adam was killed by a Palestinian fighter during the early stage of the Lebanon War, a few days before taking on his new position as head of Mossad.

Yekutiel Adam was born in Tel Aviv to Yehuda and Elisheva Adam.

Yekutiel Adam was named after his grandfather, Yekutiel Ravayev, who was killed in combat defending Petah Tikva from Arabs in 1916.

Yekutiel Adam's family were Mountain Jews from the Caucasus region.

In March 1950 Yekutiel Adam married and built a house in Tel Aviv.

Yekutiel Adam later joined an elite Haganah unit that conducted raids into enemy territory.

Yekutiel Adam went on to command the Beersheba bloc as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1974, Yekutiel Adam was moved to the Sinai, where he became a major general and eventually went on to head the Southern Command.

Yekutiel Adam was the commander of the Operation Entebbe, the 1976 raid that led to the rescue of hostages from pro-Palestinian militants at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.

In 1982, Yekutiel Adam went to the United States again to study, this time at the University of California, Berkeley.

Yekutiel Adam came back to Israel after Prime Minister Menachem Begin announced Adam's appointment as head of the Mossad, in replacement of Yitzhak Hofi.

Yekutiel Adam was killed in the 1982 Lebanon War before he could take up his post.

Yekutiel Adam was deputy Chief of Staff and thus the highest ranking IDF officer ever to be killed in battle.