Yona Efrat

Yona Efrat was born in 1926

Yona Efrat was born Yona Huppert in Poland in 1925, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family. In 1935 the family immigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. His surname was changed to Efrat, and he later joined the Haganah.

During the War of Independence he joined the Golani Brigade, was wounded twice and took part in Operation Uvda. In 1950 he received a command post in Golani. In the 1956 Sinai War he took part in capturing Sharm el-Sheikh and then commanded Battalion 51.

He commanded the Carmeli Brigade from 1964 and the Golani Brigade from 1966. In the Six-Day War he led Golani in the fighting on the Golan Heights, including the Battle of Tel Faher. In late September 1973 he became head of the Central Command, a post he held through the Yom Kippur War until 1977.

In the Lebanon War he served as an assistant to Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan. He was a member of the Kahan Commission on the Sabra and Shatila events and headed the state company Oil Services. In 1987 he was put in charge of moving Jewish consumers in Jerusalem to the Israel Electric Corporation grid. He died in 1993 and was buried in Ramat HaSharon.