Gershon HaCohen

Gershon HaCohen (Hebrew: גרשון הכהן; born 1955) is a retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer who held the rank of Aluf (Major General). Over more than four decades of service he commanded troops in combat on both the Egyptian and Syrian fronts, and held senior positions including Commander of the Northern Corps, Commander of the IDF Military Colleges, and Commander of the 36th Division. In 2005 he was the officer responsible for implementing Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Upon his retirement in 2014 he was the last serving IDF officer to have fought in the Yom Kippur War. Since retiring he has been a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center) at Bar-Ilan University, and a prominent commentator on Israeli security policy.