ẒUR, ẒEVI

ẒUR, ẒEVI (1923– ), Israeli military commander, the sixth chief of staff of the IDF. Born in Zaslavl, Ukraine, Zur went to Palestine in 1925. He joined the haganah in 1939, and was battalion commander in the Givati Brigade during the Israeli war of Independence. After the war he was brigade commander and later chief of staff of the southern command. In 1951 he began to study public administration at Syracuse University, New York, but was recalled to take up an appointment as chief of manpower division at GHQ. In 1956 he became CO of the central command, in 1958, deputy chief of general staff, and then from 1958 to 1961 studied in Paris. In 1961 he was appointed chief of the general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (1961–63). During his tenure as chief of staff, Israel did not face serious security problems and he devoted himself to upgrading the army's equipment and developing its military doctrine. After he retired from the army, he was director of mekorot , the Israeli water company (1964–67). In 1965 he was elected to the knesset from the rafi party but resigned his seat. In June 1967 he became assistant to the defense minister, Moshe Dayan, a position he held for seven years. From 1974 he served in high managerial positions in the Clal firm. In 2004 he signed a petition supporting Prime Minister ariel sharon 's Disengagement Plan. (Jehuda Wallach)