Yoav Gallant

Yoav Gallant (born 8 November 1958) is an Israeli politician and retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He served as Minister of Defense from June 2021 to November 2024, directing IDF operations during the war against Hamas in Gaza that followed the group's October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, which killed over 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the abduction of more than 250 hostages.

Gallant began his military career in 1977, enlisting in the IDF's elite Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, which he later commanded in 1994. Over 35 years of service, he held key command roles including a missile boat, the Gaza Brigade, the Southern Brigade, and the IDF's Southern Command, overseeing border security with Gaza; he also served as military secretary to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Entering politics in 2015 as a Likud member, he held ministerial positions in immigrant absorption and other portfolios before his defense appointment under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His mother, Fruma Gallant (née Segal), was a Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor born in Łódź who endured internment in Bergen-Belsen before immigrating to Mandatory Palestine as a teenager aboard the SS Exodus in 1947; she later worked as a nurse.

His father, Michael Gallant, was also a Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor who served in the Givati Brigade during Israel's 1948 War of Independence and held various manual labor positions, including work on oil drilling sites, truck driving, and sales.