Avigdor Kahalani

Brigadier-General (res.) Avigdor Kahalani (born 16 June 1944) is a former Israeli soldier and politician. Kahalani saw combat during the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur war. He currently serves as the head of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers. Kahalani graduated with a B.A. in History from Tel Aviv University and an M.A. in Political Science from Haifa University. He also studied at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and is a graduate of the National Defense College.

Kahalani retired from the IDF in 1992 and was subsequently elected to the Israeli Knesset as a Labor MK. He served on the Foreign Affairs, Defense, Culture and Education Committees. Kahlani also served as Chairman of the Golan Lobby in the Knesset. Kahalani and his own party the 'Third Way' subsequently split from Labor. Following Israeli elections in 1996 which brought a Likud coalition to power Kahalani became Minister of Public Security.

He lost his seat in 1999 and despite joining Likud he failed to gain a seat in the 2003 elections. In the 1999 elections, however, the Third Way party failed to cross the electoral threshold and Kahalani lost his seat. He later joined Likud, and was placed 43rd on the party's list for the 2003 elections, but missed out on a seat when the party won only 38.

He is the author of a book titled 'The Heights of Courage: A Tank Leader's War On the Golan'.

Views

During Operation Protective Edge Kahalani stated in an interview that he had pressed the government to launch an offensive in Gaza:

This is not an 'operation' now - it's a war about our survival... I was among those who tried to convince the government to go in.

Regarding Israel's position in the Middle East he remarked that:

We're living in a jungle, and only the strong survive. If you are weak, they will eat you.

In the same interview Kahalani claimed that Hamas was using civilian infrastructure and noncombatants to shield their forces:

There is a lot of risk because Hamas uses [noncombatants] to protect them. Many of their bunkers are un-der kindergartens, mosques, hospitals and houses, which means they have the ability to cause many casual-ties to their own people, and for the IDF.