Tsuri Śagi

Tsuri Śagi was born in 1934 in Herzliya

Sagi was born Tsuri Sheinkin in Herzliya in 1934. His parents, Mordechai and Froma Sheinkin, were among the founders of kibbutz Shefayim. The family later moved to moshav Ein Vered, where he worked in the fields.

He joined the paratroopers in 1952 and took part in the reprisal operations. He fought at the Mitla Pass as a company commander, trained officers in Ethiopia, and commanded the 890th Battalion from 1963 to 1965.

In 1965 he went to Iran to train special forces and was then sent to help the Kurds in northern Iraq. In May 1966 he planned an ambush on Mount Handrin that destroyed the Iraqi 4th Brigade. Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani gave him a bear, which was later sent to the Tel Aviv Zoo.

He served in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War and commanded several brigades. In 1974 he returned to Kurdistan and taught the Kurds to set anti-tank ambushes. The war ended with the 1975 Algiers Agreement, after which the Kurds cut ties with Israel.

He commanded the Shlomo Region from 1977 to 1980 and left the IDF in 1984. He was married to Tzipa and had a son, Yair. He died on 19 August 2026 and was buried in Tel Mond.