Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, a decorated military strategist who retired in January 2019 after serving as chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was a 2019 military fellow at The Washington Institute.
General Eisenkot spent four decades in IDF, holding command positions with the the Golani Brigade, the Bashan Armored Division, the Judea and Samaria Division, IDF Operations Branch, and the Northern Command. In 1999, Eisenkot was appointed military secretary to the prime minister and minister of defense. He was named deputy chief of general staff in 2012, and rose to become the 21st IDF chief of the general staff two years later.
In 2016, Eisenkot was awarded the Commander of the Legion of Merit by his American counterpart, General Joseph Dunford, for "exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the General Staff of the IDF" and his "contribution to the strategic cooperation between the United States and Israel [that] will have a lasting effect on both countries."
Education
M.S.S., United States Army War College; B.A., Tel Aviv University.
