13th IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron dies

Shomron, 70, passed away Tuesday at Tel-Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center where he was hospitalized three weeks ago following a stroke. Peres: He was one of the IDF’s greatest generals.

President Shimon Peres said in eulogizing Shomron that “he was one of the greatest generals that the IDF had ever known, and a born warrior. I remember him most for his actions during the raid on Entebbe. Everyone said this operation was a fantasy that could not be actualized, but Shomron insisted that the IDF’s reach was long indeed, and that that it could be done.
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Dan Shomron, the 13th Chief of Staff of the IDF, replaced Lieutenant General Moshe Levi. Shomron, a native of Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov, enlisted into Paratroopers in 1955 and took part in reprisal activities and in the "Kadesh" operation (Sinai Campaign). During the Six Day War he commanded a Paratroopers patrol force, and was the first Paratrooper to reach the Suez Canal. During the War of Attrition he commanded a Paratroopers Battalion, and during the Yom Kippur War he commanded the Armor Brigade. In 1974 he was appointed the head officer of Paratroopers and Infantry Corps in the rank of Brigadier General, and in July of 1976 he commanded the "Yonatan" operation for the rescue of Israeli hostages in Entebbe. In 1979 he was appointed Southern Command Major General. Following the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt, Shomron was responsible for the evacuation of IDF forces from Sinai. Towards the end of 1983, he established the headquarters of Field Corps, and in January 1985 he was appointed the head of Missions Branch. In October of 1986 he was appointed deputy Chief of Staff in the place of Major General Amir Drori.

(IDF website)