Chaim Laskov

Haim Laskov (; 1919 – 8 December 1982) was an Israeli public figure and the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Biography Haim Laskov was born in Barysaw in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (present-day Belarus), to Moshe and Ita (née Hirshfeld) Laskov. He immigrated to Palestine with his family in 1925. His father had previously lived in Palestine and had been among the founders of Hadera in 1891. The family settled in Haifa, where Laskov studied at the Hebrew Reali School. His father, who worked as a coachman, was killed in an accident in 1930 after Arabs prevented him from freeing his horses from an obstacle.

Laskov joined the Haganah as a teenager and served in various units, including Orde Wingate's Special Night Squads. He also served as a personal messenger for Yaakov Dori, who would later become the first IDF Chief of Staff. In 1940, Laskov joined the British Army so that he could participate in World War II. He served in various capacities, and was an officer in the Jewish Brigade which saw action on the Italian front, eventually reaching the rank of major. After the war, he remained in Europe to participate in the Aliyah Bet illegal immigration effort to bring Jewish refugees to Palestine. Along with other veterans of the Jewish Brigade, he also took part in extrajudicial executions of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators as vengeance for crimes committed against Jews.

Military career When the 1948 Arab–Israeli War erupted in 1948, Laskov assumed responsibility for preparing the framework in which new recruits would be trained. He organized the first officers' course, and formed the graduates into a brigade that fought at Latrun during Operation Nahshon. One month later, in May 1948, he returned to Latrun as commander of Israel's first armored battalion, which fought alongside the 7th Brigade. He commanded the entire brigade during Operation Dekel and Operation Hiram, and participated in the many battles over control of the Galilee. After the capture of Nazareth, he ordered the Palestinian population to be expelled; this order was refused by brigade commander Ben Dunkelman. In July, he finally returned to training new recruits, now with the rank of major general.

Although he had never been a pilot, Laskov was appointed commander of the Israeli Air Force in 1951. During his tenure, the air force prepared to incorporate its first jet fighter, the Meteor. Upon completing his tenure in 1953, Laskov left the army to study philosophy, economics, and political science (PPE) in the United Kingdom. He also obtained additional military training there.

In 1955, he returned to Israel, where he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Senior Staff Officer, however, after a series of professional disputes with Moshe Dayan, he was demoted to Commander of the Armored Corps. During the 1956 Sinai Campaign, he commanded the 77th Division, which operated on the Rafah–el-Arish–Kantara front. Upon the death of Asaf Simchoni, Chief of the Southern Command, in a plane crash, Laskov assumed his position, and oversaw the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

Legacy

Laskov resigned his position of Chief of General Staff in 1961 after a relatively peaceful tenure, marred only by clashes with the Syrians. During his term, he focused on building the strength of the IDF: Israel acquired its first submarine and its Super Mystère jets. Just before he left office, prime minister David Ben-Gurion also announced that the country had built a nuclear reactor outside the desert town of Dimona. The reactor, he claimed, was built for peaceful purposes.

Laskov established Israel's National Defense College to promote IDF generals' fluency in strategic concepts.

Civilian career In 1961, Laskov was appointed director general of the Ports Authority, and it was during his tenure that the port of Ashdod, now Israel's major port, was constructed. He also continued to write military training manuals and submitted numerous articles to military journals. In 1972, Laskov became the country's first Soldier's Ombudsman, a post he held for ten years, until his death. After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, he served on the Agranat Commission, which investigated the fiascos that led to the war.