Lieutenant-General (res.) Shaul Mofaz, was born in Iran in 1948 and immigrated to Israel in 1957.
In 1966 he joined the IDF, and as a paratrooper in the Six-Day War he fought in the Negev. He then filled command positions in the Paratroop Brigade. He commanded the Paratroop Reconnaissance Unit and a paratroop battalion, served as a Deputy Paratroop Brigade Commander, and commanded the Paratroop Brigade. During the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee, he was an infantry brigade commander.
Mofaz received a BA in business administration from Bar-Ilan University and attended the Command and Staff College of the US Marine Corps. Subsequently he served as the Commander of IDF Officers School.
1986-1988 |
Commander of the Paratroop Brigade |
1988 |
Promoted to Brigadier-General |
1988-1990 |
Held senior position in Ground Corps Command |
1990-1992 |
Commander of the Galilee Formation |
1993-1994 |
Officer Commanding IDF forces in Judea and Samaria |
1994 |
Promoted to Major-General |
1994-1996 |
G.O.C. Southern Command |
1996-1997 |
Chief of Planning Branch of the General Staff |
1997 |
Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of General Staff Branch |
1998-2002 |
16th Chief of General Staff |
In November 2002, Shaul Mofaz was appointed Minister of Defense, serving in this position until May 2006. He was elected to the 17th Knesset in March 206 on the Kadima list.
Shaul Mofaz served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transportation and Road Safety from May 2006 until March 2009. Re-elected to the 18th Knesset on the Kadima list in opposition, he served as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and of the Joint Committee for the Defense Budget.
In March 2012 he was elected head of Kadima in the party primaries, thus becoming head of the opposition. In May 2012, with the formation of the National Unity Government under Prime Minister Netanyahu, he was appointed Vice Prime Minister and Minister, serving until mid-July 2012 when the Kadima party voted to leave the coalition.
Mofaz is married with four children.