Aluf
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Aluf (Hebrew: אלוף) is the term used for General and Admiral in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In addition to the Aluf rank itself, there are four other ranks which are derivatives of the word. Together, they constitute the five highest ranks in the IDF.
[edit] Rank order of Aluf and its derivatives
- Rav Aluf (Hebrew: רב-אלוף) : the highest rank in IDF (Chief of the General Staff Rank) Lieutenant General
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- Aluf: Major General (arms, branches, and regional commands)
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- Tat Aluf (Hebrew: תת-אלוף) : Brigadier General (divisional and corps-level)
Rav Aluf is usually translated as "Lieutenant General," but is often considered to equate to a full General, since it is the most senior rank in the IDF. The rank is given only to the Chief of General Staff (Ramatkal), so there can only be one active Rav Aluf under regular circumstances. However this could change in a time of war. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, retired rav aluf Haim Bar-Lev was called back into service, replacing Shmuel Gonen as the commander of the southern front. Thus, along with chief of the general staff David Elazar (who succeed Bar-Lev in that position the previous year), there were two people in active service holding the rank of rav aluf simultaneously.
Israel is essentially a land and air power, with the navy being apportioned less than five percent of the military budget. Consequently, there are no separate naval ranks, and Aluf can be an Admiral as well as a General.
The term Aluf is taken from the Bible, where it was a rank of nobility among the Edomites, ancient Judea's neighbors (and often, enemies) to the south. It comes from an archaic root meaning "thousand"; "aluf" is the one who commands a thousand of people.
The non-Hebrew word "general" was also taken into Hebrew (גנרל), and is used to refer to the generals of foreign armies. It can also be used colloquially in reference to a senior Israeli officer, in a derogatory sense — implying that the officer in question is over-officious, incompetent, and/or involved in internecine power struggles with other officers, to the neglect of proper military duties. For example, in a known speech made by the former Israeli Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz, he criticized two other party members who both hold the rank of "aluf" (ret.): former Vice-Chief of General Staff, Aluf Matan Vilnai and former Commander of the Israeli Navy, Aluf Ami Ayalon, referring to them (and other former senior officers of the IDF) as "the generals and admirals":
"I look around me, and hear the voices, I look and I don't believe. Whenever a party does not win the status of a ruling party, the most respectable post is the Defense Ministry. And I hear the generals, and the admirals say: 'Why the Defense Ministry?' I hear the voices, and I am happy with myself, because this means we succeeded in changing the agenda in the State of Israel. The revolution is that a social general is no longer ruled out from being a minister of defense, and our generals yearn to deal with social issues."
[edit] See also
- Israel Defense Forces ranks
- Mickey Marcus - the IDF's first Aluf.
- Yaakov Dori - the IDF's first Rav Aluf (Chief of Staff)
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