Yitzhak Pundak

Infobox Military Person
name=Yitzhak Pundak


caption=
born=1913
died=
placeofbirth=Kraków, Poland
placeofdeath=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Israel Israel
branch=
serviceyears=
rank=Brigadier General
unit=
commands=53rd Battalion (Givati), Oded Brigade, Nahal
battles=1948 Arab–Israeli War, 1956 Sinai War
awards=
relations=
laterwork=Ambassador to Tanzania

Yitzhak Pundak ( _he. יצחק פונדק; b. 1913) is a former Israeli general, diplomat and politician.

Early life

Yitzhak Pundak was born in Kraków, Poland and immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1933.cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=418183|title=The Battle Still Rages — Part 1|author=Becker, Avihai|publisher=Haaretz|date=2004-04-22|accessdate=2008-10-04]

Military career

Pundak's military career started with the Haganah. In 1945, he was an instructor in a platoon commanders' course.Cite web|title=Service in the 53rd Battalion|work=Collection of Memories — Personal Stories|publisher=The RelatioNet project|url=http://adhalom.blogspot.com/2006/04/blog-post_114467268137724603.html|accessdate=2008-10-04 he icon]

In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Pundak served in the HISH and Israel Defense Forces as the commander of Givati Brigade's 53rd Battalion. He commanded the defense of the villages Nitzanim, Negba, Gat and Gal On, including what was seen as a failure and embarrassing surrender in the June 7, 1948 Battle of Nitzanim. In August 1948, he was appointed chief of the Oded Brigade and participated in Operation Yoav and Operation Hiram. In the 1950s, he founded the independent Nahal unit, which split from the Gadna program. Pundak retired from the army in 1959.

In 1971, Brigadier General Yitzhak Pundak returned to the IDF following an appointment by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to the post of governor in the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip. During his tenure, he proposed evacuating the Palestinian refugees from Gaza to a new city in the Sinai, but met strong opposition from the Southern Command chief Ariel Sharon.cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=418172&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y|title=The Battle Still Rages — Part 2|author=Becker, Avihai|publisher=Haaretz|date=2004-04-22|accessdate=2008-10-04]

Relations with Ariel Sharon

Pundak served with Major General Ariel Sharon in the Southern Command during his years as governor of the Sinai and Gaza. He generally disapproved of Sharon's actions, saying that Sharon "did one swinish thing after another". He also disagreed with Sharon's methods to fight Palestinian militancy in the Gaza Strip, and instead advocated improving the living conditions in the area.cite web|title=1971 Ariel Sharon's War against Terrorism|work=Ariel Sharon — Life Story—A Biography|url=http://www.ariel-sharon-life-story.com/08-Ariel-Sharon-Biography-1971-War-against-Terrorism.shtml|accessdate=2008-10-04] Shlomo Gazit, a retired IDF general and scholar, writes that the defense minister of the time, Moshe Dayan, created the civilian post of governor precisely to limit Sharon's jurisdiction, and appointed Pundak to the position to serve as "an excellent 'watchdog'". The plan had major drawbacks, because the two administrations (Sharon's and Pundak's) were at odds and conflicting orders were issued, reducing the system's efficiency.cite book|title=Trapped Fools|author=Gazit, Shlomo|authorlink=Shlomo Gazit|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RN1qLqgOftMC&pg=RA1-PA62&lpg=RA1-PA62&dq=%22yitzhak+pundak%22+-becker&source=web&ots=m1h-I7iheN&sig=MFf1fEj5naH2RFsrxb26ANI-Qms&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|pages=p. 62|isbn=0714654892|accessdate=2008-10-04]

Despite this, Pundak advocated a unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip following the First Intifada, which was eventually carried out by Sharon in 2005. According to the September 2004 edition of The Washington Monthly, Pundak also criticized Yasser Arafat for not accepting Ehud Barak's peace proposal in the 2000 Camp David Summit, and said that he would be voting for Sharon in the next election.cite journal|title=This land is my land: how Arafat and Sharon have debased the very societies they claim to serve|periodical=Washington Monthly|author=Hammer, Joshua|month=September|year=2004|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_/ai_n6332296|accessdate=2008-10-04]

Political career

Pundak's administrated the Arad Regional Council from June 1962, replacing Aryeh Eliav. In 1965, the Israeli government decided to create a local council in Arad and Pundak was made its first head. He was replaced by Ze'ev Haimoni after an election in 1966.Cite web|url=http://www.arad-museum.com/historyofarad.html|title=Arad — First Days — Preface|accessdate=2008-10-04|publisher=Arad Historical Museum he icon]

Dipomatic career

Yitzhak Pundak received his first senior diplomatic point in November 1965, when he was made the Israeli ambassador to Tanzania.cite book|title=Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oVrVK2ElINMC&pg=PA585&lpg=PA585&dq=%22israeli+ambassador+to+tanzania%22&source=web&ots=r_U2210CNc&sig=MjMHHKC7vQj8ZnIz2XS6aDHSd9A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1|author=Kalley, Jacqueline Audrey|coauthors=Schoeman, Elna; Andor, Lydia Eve|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=p. 585|isbn=0313302472] He later served as head of the Jewish Agency's delegation to Argentina at the height of the Dirty War, after which he retired from all public posts.

References