Mordechai Kahana

Mordechai Kahana was born in 1970 in Jerusalem

Mordechai Kahana was born in Jerusalem in 1970 and grew up in the Jewish Quarter. His father is Rabbi Nachman Kahana, and his uncle was Rabbi Meir Kahane. He studied at yeshivas in Jerusalem and in Hispin on the Golan.

He joined the IDF in 1989 and served in the Golani Brigade, where he was wounded in a stabbing attack weeks after enlisting. He rose to command the Golani reconnaissance unit, Battalion 12 and the Egoz Unit, which he led in the Second Lebanon War. He later commanded brigades in Gaza and the south, and led the Bislamach Brigade in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

In 2015 he was promoted to brigadier general and named Chief Combat Intelligence Collection Officer. In 2017 he was investigated over holding military equipment against orders and asked to leave the army. In 2018 a disciplinary tribunal convicted him of breaching orders and taking equipment unlawfully, gave him reprimands, and acquitted him on another charge due to doubt.

After leaving the army he headed the security policy division of the National Security Council and served as acting director general of the Intelligence Ministry. He then served as director general of the Settlement Ministry until 2023. On 7 October 2023 he joined the reserves as chief of staff of the 36th Division. He lives in Ma'alot, is married to Hagit and has 7 children.