Yaakov Stern

Yaakov Stern was born in 1932 in Strasbourg

Yaakov Stern was born in 1932 in Strasbourg, France. In 1936 he moved to the Land of Israel and grew up and studied in Tel Aviv. As a teenager during the War of Independence he belonged to Lehi.

After the war he joined the IDF and became an instructor at the officers school until 1953. He led the Golani reconnaissance unit, served in the Paratroopers Brigade and took part in the Israeli military aid mission to Ethiopia. From 1960 to 1962 he commanded Battalion 12 of the Golani Brigade.

In the Six-Day War he was operations officer of Northern Command under David Elazar. He then commanded the brigade that became Brigade 820 on the Golan Heights until 1970. After studies at Fort Leavenworth in the United States he headed the infantry school.

In 1972 he became head of the Operations Division, responsible for readiness and mobilization around the Yom Kippur War. In 1974 he became chief of staff of Northern Command under Mordechai Gur. He later commanded the Etgar formation and served as military attaché in South Africa until his discharge in 1983. He died in 2008.