Yitzhak Pundak, a 100-year-old former soldier who fought in the 1948 War of Independence, was promoted to the rank of major-general on Tuesday -- 60 years after he was first promised the promotion. Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon and Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz personally placed the new insignia on Pundak's uniform at a special ceremony. "Today you have healed the wound that I had for the past 60 years," an emotional Pundak told them. The head of the IDF's Personnel Directorate, Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai, and the head of the Ground Forces Command, Maj. Gen. Guy Zur, were also present at the ceremony. Brig. Gen. Dan Nadiv, director-general of the IDF Veterans Association, Tzevet, and family and friends were also there. Pundak was a commander on the southern front during the 1948 War of Independence. After the war, he was appointed commander of the Nahal Brigade. In 1953, he assumed command of Israel's Armored Corps. In 1954, then-Chief of General Staff Moshe Dayan informed Pundak that he would be promoted to major-general. The promise was never kept due to then-Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon's opposition. Pundak later retired from the IDF, only to be called back in 1971 by Dayan, by then defense minister. Dayan appointed him governor of the Gaza Strip and promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general. But even in his second tour of duty his much-coveted rank eluded him. "Your great heritage has been with us all those years," Gantz told Pundak at Tuesday's ceremony. "This has the aura of a unique and unprecedented event that is about thanking you and paying gratitude to all the work you have done. I am glad I had this opportunity to do the right thing and promote you to the rank of major-general. This is a very exciting moment for you, your family and for the IDF." Ya'alon echoed Gantz, saying, "When the chief of general staff approached me and asked about promoting Yitzhak to major-general, there was excitement in the air, because we were brought up on your life's story. The chief of general staff recommended we make the move, and I agreed and approved this with enthusiasm, so that we can undo the historical injustice that Yitzhak had endured." Ya'alon continued: "After his immigration to [pre-state] Israel, Pundak became a member of the Haganah [the precursor to the IDF] and then a public servant, in the IDF, as an envoy of the state abroad, as one of the builders of Arad and the head of the regional municipality. That is why we believed, partially because of all of this, that you, Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Pundak, deserved this rank and I am happy that the chief of general staff and I had the opportunity to do this." An Israel Hayom weekend feature from June 14 told Pundak's story. In it, he is quoted as saying: "Had [Israel's first prime minister] David Ben-Gurion known that [I was about to be released] he would have prevented my discharge. I was once having a conversation with his daughter, Geula, and then he suddenly burst into the room. I was already a civilian. 'Where is the uniform-' he asked in his characteristic tone, only to discover that I was no longer on active duty." Pundak told Israel Hayom that he had to leave the army because of politics. "Haim Laskov [the IDF chief of general staff in the late 1950s and early 1960s] didn't like me because I refused to be associated with a particular party. That is why I was 'written off' time and again." On Tuesday, Pundak told Israel Hayom that he felt "a great burden has been lifted. After 60 years, this is a big event. I had to ask ministers and army chiefs for that." "The previous IDF chief of general staff wouldn't even meet me but the current chief and defense minister decided to right this historical wrong," he said. "Only last Friday was I informed that my promotion was approved. Before the ceremony people came to dress me up and decorate me with all the insignia. The ceremony was very nice and uplifting."
100-year-old former soldier gets a long-awaited salute
Yitzhak Pundak, who fought in the 1948 War of Independence and climbed the ranks of the IDF, was denied the rank of major-general because of political machinations • Sixty years later, the IDF follows through on its promise.
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