Alon, Nitzan

Nitzan Alon was born in 1965 and grew up in a Nir Banim moshav near Kiryat Gat ^[1] .

Alon's parents, Hezi (Yehezkel) and Yona Alon, were among the founders of the moshav. The parents of Hezi Alon were among the founders of the moshav Tel-Adashim , the parents of his wife were among the founders of Herzliya . Before moving to Nir Banim, Hezi and Yona Alon lived in the kibbutz Erez , where Hezi Alon led the protection of the kibbutz ^[2] .

Nitzan Alon graduated from a regional high school in the moshav Beer Tuvia ^[3] . After graduation, spent a year volunteering in the youth movement “Bnei ha-moshavim” ^[2] .

Military career

In 1984, Alon was drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces . He began his service in the special unit Sayeret Matkal .

Without completing the full training course of the unit’s fighter, Alon was removed from the unit for a disciplinary violation: in order to strengthen military discipline, the Chief of the General Staff Moshe Levy gave the decree to strictly deal with each violator of the charter, especially intolerant of those who set a negative example for fighters of elite units, and namely Alon, accidentally detained by the military police without a beret, I had to pay for it ^[4] . Alon was transferred to the Maglan special forces unit, where he completed the full training course and entered the officer courses ^[2] , but the Sayeret Matkal commander Omer Bar-Lev managed to get Alon back to his unit ^[4] .

At the end of the officer courses, Alon commanded a detachment of the Cyeret Matkal unit. For participation in one of the operations in this position he was awarded the Insignia of the Chief of the General Staff ^[5] . He participated in a number of operations, including the abduction from Lebanon of one of the leaders of the Hezbollah organization, Sheikh Abdelkarim Ubeid, on July 28, 1989 ^[4] . During the unit’s exercises, he unintentionally wounded a unit mate ^[2] , was put on trial, but remained in the unit ^[4] .

Then he commanded a company unit. Among other things, he also took part in the unsuccessful operation on October 14, 1994 to release the soldier Nakhshon Waxman kidnapped by Palestinian militants ^[6] .

From 1995 to 1997 he served as deputy commander of Sayeret Matkal, and in 1998 he headed the unit. He commanded the unit until March 2001; on resignation was introduced to the rank of colonel ^[7] .

From 2001 to 2003 he was engaged in research activities in Washington , USA , and on his return he was appointed commander of the special reserve brigade "Hitsa Hash."

In 2005, Alon led the Etzion territorial brigade ( Hebrew חטמ"ר עציון ) ^[8] . During the Second Lebanon War , while remaining in command of the Etzion brigade, he commanded a raid on the Lebanese city of Baalbek on the night of 2 August 2006 with the participation of fighters of special forces “ Sayeret Matkal ” and “ Shaldag ” ^[9] .

Alon served as brigade commander until June 3, 2007 ^[10] , and then received the rank of brigadier general and was appointed the first head of the Operations Directorate ( Hebrew חטיבת ההפעלה המבצעית ) created by the Army General Intelligence Directorate ^[11] .

On October 7, 2009, Alon was appointed commander of the territorial division of Judea and Samaria ^[12] . During the period of Alon’s command, a decrease in the level of terrorist activity against Israeli targets emanating from the territory of the West Bank was noted ^[13] . Despite this, Alon was subjected to frequent personal attacks by radical circles of Jewish settlers of the West Bank , who saw in some statements by Alon ^[14] , as well as in his persistent resistance to acts of radical settlers against Palestinians and their property (collectively called “ Tag mehir ”) and readiness to classify these acts as“ terror ” ^[15] , proof of his sharply negative attitude against the settlement ideology ^[16] . In this context, Alona was also remembered for his wife’s participation in the rally of the left-wing human rights organization “Mahsom Watch” in 2006 ^[17] . Near the house of Alon, a picket of radical activists of the right camp took place ^[18] .

On October 25, 2011, Alon transferred the command of the division to Brigadier General Hagai Mordechai ^[19] and went on vacation pending his appointment to the next post ^[15] .

On December 15, 2011, a decision was announced to upgrade Alon to the rank of Major General and to appoint him Commander of the Central Military District to replace Major General Avi Mizrahi ^[20] . The message was sharply criticized by the leaders of the settlement movement and representatives of the Israeli right-wing political camp, who claimed that Alon’s appointment to the post, which included extensive powers to manage the West Bank and regulate settlement activities, was triggered by political considerations and was committed by the Minister of Defense Ehud Barak in revenge settlers for the recent round of violence by radical representatives of their camp ^[21] . The press service of the army denied such allegations, saying that Alon’s candidacy as the most suitable for this post was presented not by the Minister, but by the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Beni Ganz ^[22] .

On March 8, 2012, Alon was awarded the rank of Major General, and he assumed the post of Commander of the Central Military District ^[23] .

In January 2015, a message was published on the decision of the Minister of Defense Moshe (Gods) Yaalon and the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Beni Ganz , agreed with the successor of Ganz, Major General Gadi Aizenkot , to appoint Alon as head of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Army for shift to Major General Yoav Har Even ^[24] .

Education and personal life

During his service, Alon received a bachelor's degree in Technion (in the field of physics and materials science ).

Lives in moshav Nir Banim ^[25] . Married to Mor Alon, father of four children.

Alon's elder brother, Lt. Colonel of the reserve of armored forces Ram Alon, was awarded the Insignia of the Chief of the General Staff for the feat committed during the First Lebanon War ^[26] . Alon also has two sisters: the eldest Khan and the younger Neta ^[2] .

• Biography , on the website of the Israel Defense Forces (13.3.12) (Hebrew)
• Announcement of the decision to appoint Alon to the post of Commander of the Central Military District and a curriculum vitae on the website of the Israel Defense Forces (12.15.11) (Hebrew)
• אורי שבתאי קצין וג'נטלמן ישראל היום, 12/23/11 (Uri Shabtai, “ Officer and gentleman ”, “Yisrael ha-yom” (12/23/11)) - biographical description (Hebrew)
• חנן גרינברג, עמיחי אתאלי, רונן דמארי אלון מורה: המרוץ לצמרת של ניצן אלון מעריב-אן-אר-заб י י Ат Ат Ат Ат Ат Ат, указывает ми ми ми Ат указывает указывает "Maariv-NRG" (12.23.11)) - biographical description (Hebrew)
• פלורה שויחט תא"ל ניצן אלון: ייתכן והרשות הפלסטינית תחדל מלראות את חמאס כאויב ( Brigadier General Nitzan Alonet’s " on the site of Israel, 11 It’s possible that 11)) - an interview with Nitzan Alon upon completion of the post of division commander of Judea and Samaria (Hebrew)
• Ethan Bronner, “Israel's West Bank General Warns Against Radicals” (Ethan Bronner, “ Israeli General from the West Bank Warns of Radical Activities ,” “ The New York Times ” (11.10.11) - Interview with Nitzan Alon