Giora Lev

Giora Lev was born in 1939 in Haifa

Giora Lev was born in Haifa on 30 June 1939. He studied at the Kadoorie Agricultural High School.

After his conscription he joined the Armored Corps, trained as a fighter and tank commander, and later completed officers' course. He commanded a company in the Six-Day War and in the Yom Kippur War led the 264th Battalion, the first tank battalion to cross the Suez Canal. In the First Lebanon War he commanded the 90th Division, which fought in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub.

He also commanded the 460th Brigade, served as deputy corps commander and was military attaché in South Africa. He left the IDF as a brigadier general.

In 1989 he was elected mayor of Petah Tikva for the Likud and served two terms. In 1995 a court acquitted him of bribery and breach of trust charges, and the Supreme Court rejected the state's appeal. He lost the 1998 election to Yitzhak Ochaion.

In 2015 he received honorary citizenship of Petah Tikva. He lives in the city, was widowed in 2017 and has 4 children.