Oded Tyrah

Oded Tyrah was born in 1940 in Petah Tikva

Oded Tyrah was born on December 18, 1940, in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood of Petah Tikva, under the name Oded Tiras. He was the only child of Dov, an electrical engineer and one of the founders of the Artillery Corps, and Dina Olga, a seamstress. As a teenager he moved with his parents to the Tzahala neighborhood of Tel Aviv.

He joined the IDF in 1958 and served in the artillery, leaving in 1961 as a second lieutenant. He then studied industrial engineering and management at the Technion and worked in production at several factories while serving in the reserves. He later earned a master's degree in geography from the University of Haifa.

He returned to career service in 1970 and held artillery commands in several wars. In 1982 he became a brigadier general and commanded the evacuation of the Yamit region. From 1983 to 1986 he was Chief Artillery Officer.

After leaving the army he joined the glass maker Phoenicia, becoming its president in 1989 and board chairman in 1999. He led the building of a new plant in Tzippori, which earned him the Industry Prize in 1994. He headed the Manufacturers Association from 1999 to 2005.

In 2006 he co-founded the Institute for Future Leadership. In 2014 he became chairman of the National Sports Council, where a racist remark he made about Maccabi Tel Aviv players caused an uproar. He published an autobiography in 2015.