Yaacob Ayish

Yaacob Ayish was born in 1962 in Kiryat Tiv'on

Ayish was born on December 3, 1962, in Kiryat Tiv'on, where he grew up. He holds a political science degree from Haifa University and a master's degree in business administration from Tel Aviv University. He also graduated from the British Army command and staff college and a management course at Harvard University.

He was drafted in 1981 and served mostly in the Armored Corps. He commanded the 82nd Battalion and later the 7th Brigade, and headed the Operations Department during the Second Intifada. In 2004 he became a brigadier general and commanded the Hamaptz Division.

From 2005 to 2008 he was chief of staff of the Ground Forces Command. He then led the Et Ha'asif efficiency program, developed with McKinsey, and later the Planning Division. In 2010 he became a major general and head of the Operations Branch.

In 2012 he replaced Gadi Shamni as IDF attaché to the United States and Canada, and was replaced by Miki Edelstein in 2016. He then became vice president of JINSA. After the Swords of Iron war he was named deputy head of the Tkuma Directorate. He lives in Caesarea, is married to Dalia and has 4 children.