Yakov Erez

Yakov Erez was born in 1936 in Brest

Erez was born Yakov Eisenbaum in 1936 in Brest, Poland, the only child of his parents. When World War II began, the family fled to the Soviet Union. His father was drafted into the Red Army, and he spent the war with his mother in Uzbekistan.

In 1948 the family immigrated to Israel on the ship Negba. They lived for a year in the Dora transit camp in Netanya and later moved to Lod.

Erez served in the Artillery Corps and held command and training posts, including command of Battalion 402 in the War of Attrition. From 1971 to 1973 he was the artillery commander of Southern Command. In July 1973 he took command of Kidon, the artillery group of the Sinai formation, and led it through the Yom Kippur War.

After his discharge he represented the Technion in Canada, where he met David Azrieli. Azrieli named him project manager for building the Ayalon Mall, and he later managed shopping center projects in Rehovot and Budapest. He also represented Tel Aviv University in Canada for 5 years and was CEO of the Artillery Corps association.

He was married to Etty until her death and had 4 children. He died in Ra'anana on February 29, 2020.