Zvi Poleg

Zvi Poleg was born in 1948 in Romania

Zvi Poleg was born Zvi Farkash in Transylvania, Romania, in 1948. His father Baruch died while Zvi was a boy. In 1962 he immigrated to Israel with his mother and brother and was educated at the Kfar Avraham youth village in Petah Tikva.

He joined the IDF in 1966 and served in the Golani Brigade, fighting in the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, where he was wounded. He commanded the Carmeli Brigade in the 1982 Lebanon War, then the Golani Brigade. Promoted to brigadier general in 1988, he led the Gaza Division during the First Intifada and retired in 1992.

After retiring he became director general of Netanya's municipality. In 1993 he was elected mayor for the Labor Party. During his term the city opened new colleges, approved new neighborhoods and developed the Kiryat Sapir industrial zone.

He left office in 1998 and managed Ha-N Industries of the Ta'avura group until 2015. He has served as chairman and director of several companies and in public bodies. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Haifa and a master's degree from the École Militaire in Paris, and has been married to Tali since 1971.