Appointed by the Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Yaacov Ayish will replace Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, as approved by Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Date: 31/05/2012, 6:20 PM
Author: IDF Website
Following the decision of the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak has approved today (May 31, 2012) the appointment of Major General Yaacov Ayish as the new Defense Attaché to the USA.
Maj. Gen. Yaacov Ayish will replace Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni.
Maj. Gen. Yaacov Ayish was born in December, 1962 in northern Israel. In 1981, he enlisted the IDF Armored Corps as a combat soldier, later on becoming an officer and a company commander. He participated in and commanded over various military operations throughout his service. Maj. Gen. Ayish has a Bachelor's Degree in political science from the Haifa University, and a Masters Degree in business from the Tel Aviv University. He is married and father of one daughter and three sons.
In 1990 Maj. Gen. Ayish was appointed commander of an armored battalion and received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Between 1991 and 1994 he served as deputy brigade commander and then Operations Branch Commander at the Northern Command. Later on, between 1996 and 1999 he received the rank of Colonel and commanded of the reserve armored brigade and training centers of both the Armored Corps and the Military Engineering Corps.
Between 1999 and 2001 Maj. Gen. Ayish commanded over a brigade in the Northern Command. Between 2002 and 2004, he served as the General Staff Operations Department Operations Division commander. He then received the rank of Brigadier General.
He served as Head of the Ground Forces Headquarters between 2005 and 2008 during the Second Lebanon War then partaking in the post-war rebuilding process. Before appointed the new Defense Attaché to the USA, he served as head of the Operations Directorate.