Mordechai Gur

Mordechai Gur was born in 1930 in Jerusalem

Gur was born in Jerusalem as Mordechai Gorban, the son of Moshe and Tovah Gorban. He attended high school in Rehovot. At 13 he joined the Haganah, where his roles included overseeing Gadna.

He fought in the War of Independence with the Palmach and later joined the Paratroopers as a company commander under Ariel Sharon. He studied humanities and Middle Eastern studies at the Hebrew University, and later military studies in Paris.

Gur commanded the Golani Brigade and later the 55th Paratroopers Brigade, which captured the Old City of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. He headed the Northern Command and served as military attache in Washington. As Chief of Staff he oversaw the Entebbe rescue and Operation Litani.

After retiring he managed Kur Mechanica and was elected to the Knesset for Labor in 1981. He served as Minister of Health, Minister without Portfolio and Deputy Minister of Defense under Yitzhak Rabin.

Gur was married to Rita Mazor and had four children. Ill with terminal cancer, he took his own life on July 16, 1995, and was buried in Tel Aviv with military honors.