MAJOR GENERAL YORAM YAIR (YAYA)

BIOGRAPHY

Maj. Gen. Yoram Yair was born in 1944 in Kibbutz Ein-Hanatziv, in the Galilee area, and grew up in Tel Aviv.

Inducted into the IDF in 1963, he served in the Paratroopers where he held every command position – from Platoon leader to Division Commander.

During the 1967 Six Day War, he commanded the spearhead Paratroops company that broke through the Rafah strongholds in the Northern Sinai. In the course of these battles he was severely wounded, yet returned to command his men two months later.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as a Paratroops Battalion Commander, he fought the holding defense against the main Syrian thrust on the Golan Heights. He later crossed the Suez Canal, with his Battalion and led his forces up to Suez city, deep inside Egypt. Following the war he was appointed commander of the IDF Officers’ School. During the course of his service he commanded IDF company commanders and Battalion commanders courses.

In the 1982 Lebanon war, Gen. Yair commanded the Paratroops Brigade which made an amphibious landing north of Sidon. His Brigade reached terrorist and Syrian lines and was the first Brigade to reach Beirut. He was slightly wounded in that war.

After the war, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and commanded Infantry & Armour Divisions. From 1987 – 1988 he commanded the Lebanon sector.

In August 1988, he was appointed to a senior field command post and was promoted to the rank of Major General.

On June 1st, 1992, he was appointed Director of IDF General Staff Manpower Branch.

During the course of his military career, Maj Gen. Yair planned, conducted and participated in dozens of raids and operations beyond Israel’s borders. The battles which he fought in the Lebanon war have been studied in military schools throughout the world.

Maj. Gen. Yair is a recognised authority on the theory and practice of developing command and military leadership potential. He devised a new method for training high level command echelons which is used in all IDF exercises and maneuvers. Likewise, selection methods he developed for acceptance to IDF officer courses and elite unite are currently used by the IDF.

Maj. Gen Yair chaired the committee that drafted the recently published IDF Code of Ethics. He has also written a book describing the battles which his brigade fought in the Lebanon war and his conceptions about the art of command and leadership. The book has become standard reading in the IDF command and officer courses and a "Bestseller" among Israeli youth.

Maj. Gen. Yair is a graduate of US Army Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. He holds a BA in psychology from Bar Ilan University and has completed studies for a Masters Degree in Social and Industrial Psychology at Bar Ilan University. He has also studied towards an MBA at Tel Aviv University.

Maj Gen. Yair has been married to Edna since 1966. They are the parents of four children and they have two grandchildren. Their daughter Shlomit, who served as a Captain and was an operation officer in the Israeli Air Force, was killed in an aircraft accident in 1990.