Uzi Yairi

Uzi Yairi was born in 1936 in Ramat Gan

Uzi Yairi was born in Ramat Gan in 1936 to Haviva and Baruch Yairi. His family moved to Holon, and later to a neighborhood on the Holon and Bat Yam border because of his father's role in the Haganah. There the family ran a hidden weapons cache disguised as a leather factory.

He joined the IDF in 1955 and volunteered for the paratroopers, where he became a platoon and later company commander. He fought in the Sinai Campaign and then became deputy commander of Sayeret Matkal under Dov Tamari. He studied economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1967 he took command of Sayeret Matkal and led it in the Six Day War and in the 1968 raid on Beirut airport. He later studied at the US Army command and staff college, became deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, and headed the office of Chief of Staff Haim Bar-Lev. In 1972 he became a colonel and commander of the Paratroopers Brigade.

He led the brigade in the Yom Kippur War, including the fighting at the Chinese Farm. The losses weighed on him, and he left brigade command for staff roles in Military Intelligence. On 5 March 1975 he joined the assault on the Savoy Hotel, held by militants, and was killed.

He was married to Dalia Yairi, an editor and presenter at Kol Israel, and they had 5 children. Moshav Ro'i, founded in 1976, is named after him.