Yuval Harel

Yuval Harel was born in 1977 in Eilat

Yuval Harel was born in 1977 in Eilat. He is married and has 4 children.

Harel completed the Israeli Air Force pilot course in 1997 in the fighter track. He trained on the Skyhawk, the F-16 and the F-15. He served as a flight instructor and commanded a squadron of basic fighter training at the Flight Academy.

In 2013 he took command of 101 Squadron, which flies the F-16C. In 2015 he took command of an F-16I squadron, and in 2017 he became head of the air defense and collection department in the Air Operations Group. From August 2018 to May 2021 he commanded the Flight Academy, and in November 2020 an instructor and a cadet were killed there when a training plane crashed.

In September 2022 he was named head of the Manpower Directorate and promoted to brigadier general, serving until 17 September 2025. In that role he represented the army toward the family of reserve officer Asaf Dagan, who took his own life in October 2024, and took part in drafting the state's response opposing his mother's petition for a military burial. In December 2025 he met leaders of a forum of retired pilots to discuss air crew who stopped volunteering in protest of the judicial reform.