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Gal Hirsch

Gal Hirsch is an Israeli former IDF brigadier general and author who commanded the Galilee Division in the Second Lebanon War and later coordinated the handling of the captives and missing after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

born 1964Commanding the Galilee DivisionCommanding the Shaldag unitCoordinating efforts for captives and missing

Occupation: military officer
Party: Likud
Education: Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University
Rank: general
Wars: 2006 Lebanon War

Gal Hirsch was born in 1964 in Arad

Gal Hirsch was born in Arad to Yitzhak and Rachel, into one of the town's early settler families. His grandparents on both sides served in the Haganah. After his cousin, the pilot Amnon Hagar, was killed in a helicopter disaster, he studied at the Military Boarding School near the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in Tel Aviv.

He holds a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Bar-Ilan University. He also earned an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

He enlisted in 1982 and served in the Paratroopers, later commanding the Shaldag unit, the Binyamin Brigade, Bahad 1 and the Galilee Division. As brigade commander he closed Highway 443 to Palestinian traffic, a decision the Supreme Court overturned in 2009. The abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev took place in his sector, and he resigned in December 2006 before the Almog Commission report, which recommended his dismissal.

In 2006 he founded Defensive Shield Holdings, a security consulting company. In 2015 the minister Gilad Erdan proposed him as Police Commissioner, but his candidacy was withdrawn while he was under investigation. The investigation into the Rishon LeZion tender was closed in 2018 for lack of guilt.

Gal Hirsch's life in 9 milestones

1982
Enlisted in the IDF and joined the Paratroopers.
1993
Became commander of the Shaldag unit.
2003
Became commander of Bahad 1.
2005
Took command of the Galilee Division as a brigadier general.
2006
Resigned from the IDF after the Second Lebanon War.
2012
Returned as deputy commander of the Depth Command.
2015
Was proposed for Police Commissioner, then withdrew.
2018
An investigation against him was closed for lack of guilt.
2026
Served as an Independence Day torchbearer.

Gal Hirsch served in Shaldag

He served in the IDF from 1982, commanding the Shaldag unit from 1993 to 1996 and later the Galilee Division as a brigadier general in the Second Lebanon War. He returned as deputy commander of the Depth Command from 2012 to 2015.

Shaldag