View source for Haim Bar-Lev

{{Short description|Israeli military officer and politician (1924–1994)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Haim Bar-Lev
| image               = Haim Bar-Lev, Chief of General Staff.jpg
| caption             = Haim "Kidoni" Bar-Lev
| native_name         = {{Nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|חיים בר-לב}}}}
| native_name_lang    = he
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1924|11|16}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1994|5|7|1924|11|16|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Vienna]], [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]]
| death_place         = [[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]]
| children            = [[Omer Bar Lev|Omer]]
| signature           = Haim Bar-Lev signature.png
| office1             = Ministerial roles
| suboffice1          = [[Industry, Trade and Labour Minister of Israel|Minister of Trade & Industry]]
| subterm1            = 1972–1977
| suboffice2          = [[Development Minister of Israel|Minister of Development]]
| subterm2            = 1974
| suboffice3          = [[Internal Security Minister of Israel|Minister of Police]]
| subterm3            = 1984–1990
| office4             = Faction represented in the [[Knesset]]
| suboffice4          = [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]]
| subterm4            = 1977–1991
| suboffice5          = [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]]
| subterm5            = 1991–1992
| office6             = Military roles
| suboffice6          = Head of [[Southern Command (Israel)|Southern Command]]
| subterm6            = 1973
| suboffice7          = Deputy Chief of Staff
| subterm7            = 1967–1968
| suboffice8          = [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief of General Staff]]
| subterm8            = 1968–1972
| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = {{flag|Israel}}
| branch              = {{armed forces|Israel}}
| serviceyears        = 1942–73
| rank                = {{unbulleted list| [[File:IDF rav aluf rotated.svg|40px]] [[Rav aluf]] {{small|(Lieutenant general)}}}}
| commands            = [[Chief of General Staff (Israel)|Chief of General Staff]]<br />[[Southern Command (Israel)|Southern Command]]
| unit                = 
| battles             = {{unbulleted list| [[Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine]] | [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] | [[Suez Crisis]] | [[Six-Day War]] | [[War of Attrition]] | [[Yom Kippur War]]}}
| awards              = 
| laterwork           = 
}}
[[File:Israeli and Egyptian Generals Meet in Sinai - Flickr - Israel Defense Forces.jpg|thumb|right|24 October 1973: Following the [[Yom Kippur War]], a UN-arranged meeting between Bar-Lev and an Egyptian general in Sinai]]
'''Haim''' "'''Kidoni'''" '''Bar-Lev''' ({{langx|he|חיים בר-לב}}; 16 November 1924 – 7 May 1994) was a military officer during [[Israel]]'s pre-state and early statehood eras and later a [[Cabinet of Israel|government minister]].

==Biography==
Born '''Haim Brotzlewsky''' in [[Vienna]] to Moshe and Dwora Brotzlewsky (née Wilkonsky), his family moved to [[Zagreb]] when he was 4 years old, and he was raised there. His father became one of the textile magnates of [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|interwar Yugoslavia]]. The young Haim joined his local chapter of [[HaShomer HaTzair]]. Bar-Lev made [[aliyah]] to [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate Palestine]] in 1939. The rest of his family was able to emigrate to Palestine two years later. From 1942 through 1948, Bar-Lev served in various Jewish military units, such as the [[Palmach]]. He became both a pilot and a [[parachute|parachutist]], which would later serve him in developing both of these military branches in the young [[Israel Defense Forces]].

In 1946, Bar-Lev [[Night of the Bridges|blew up the Allenby Bridge]] near [[Jericho]] to prevent [[Arab]] militiamen in [[Jordan|Trans-Jordan]] from entering Jewish towns west of the [[Jordan River]]. During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], Bar-Lev was the commander of the Eighth Battalion (Mechanized) in the [[Negev Brigade]], which fought in the southern part of the country and the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].

During the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]] he commanded the 27th Armored Brigade, which captured the [[Gaza Strip]] before turning southwest and reaching the [[Suez Canal]]. By 1964 he became of Director of Operations within the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF).

During the June 1967 [[Six-Day War]] he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the IDF. Israeli Chief of Staff General Chaim Bar-Lev initiated the construction of defensive structures along the Canal, despite advice from several seasoned commanders. However, Israeli commanders did not prioritize determining whether the '[[Bar Lev Line|Bar-Lev Line]]' served as merely a 'trip-wire', as later asserted, or constituted a comprehensive defensive barrier.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=T.G |title=The Arab Israeli Conflict |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2004 |isbn=1403913382 |edition=2nd |page=93 |language=English}}</ref> 

Between 1968 and 1971, Bar-Lev served as IDF's Chief of General Staff, which made him the highest-ranking military officer.<ref name=":0" />

During the October 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], although retired from the IDF and serving as the [[Industry, Trade and Labour Minister of Israel|Minister of Trade and Industry]], he was recalled by Prime Minister [[Golda Meir]] back into military service to replace [[Shmuel Gonen|Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen]] as chief of the [[Southern Command (Israel)|Southern Command]], which defended the [[Sinai Peninsula]]. Bar-Lev played a pivotal role in the war. Before his appointment the Southern front was in disarray to the point of near total collapse and Gonen was proving unable to effectively control the situation. Bar-Lev immediately took charge and worked towards stabilizing the front. His political and negotiating skills also proved instrumental in controlling his field generals who were feuding amongst themselves since each had their own notions, sometimes competing ones, regarding how the war in the South should be carried out. The effect that Bar-Lev's arrival had on the chaotic Southern command headquarters was described by Gonen's deputy, [[Uri Ben-Ari]], in testimony to the Israeli military's historical department:

<blockquote>Bar-Lev brought calmness on all of us. Finally there was a feeling that we had a real commander in charge. This feeling spread between us and later also in the battlefield radios like fire. Bar-Lev also managed to calm Gorodish down. Prior to his arrival, general staff meetings were one loud shout out of Gorodish's mouth. Bar Lev instituted orderly working routines. No one challenged his authority. The country owes much to him. "Dvelah" went back to being a real war-room, a compartmentalized one. No one [who did not belong there] was allowed entry. Serenity descended on the war room. The general staff officers switched to carrying out their tasks in well organized shifts. Even Arik [Ariel Sharon]'s tone of voice changed when Bar Lev arrived.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}</blockquote>

===Political career===
Bar-Lev remained Minister of Trade and Industry until the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]] government was defeated and replaced by the [[Likud]] under the leadership of [[Menachem Begin]] following the [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977 elections]], in which Bar-Lev was elected to the Knesset for the first time. Between 1977 and 1984 he served as General Secretary of the [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]], the largest faction in the Alignment. When the Alignment joined the national unity governments that held office between 1984 and 1990, Bar-Lev served as [[Internal Security Minister of Israel|Minister of Police]] and as a member of the "inner cabinet". He retired from the Knesset at the time of the [[1992 Israeli legislative election|1992 elections]], and was appointed ambassador to Russia, serving until 1994.

He died in [[Tel Aviv]] on 7 May 1994.

His son [[Omer Bar-Lev]] is an Israeli politician member of the [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]].

==See also==
* [[History of the Israel Defense Forces#List of Chiefs of the General Staff|List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite book |title=Generals of Israel |author=Moshe Ben Shaul |author-link=Moshe Ben Shaul |publisher=Hadar Pub. |location=Tel Aviv |year=1968 |oclc=2648484 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Arab–Israeli Wars |author=Chaim Herzog |author-link=Chaim Herzog |publisher=[[Random House]] |location=New York |year=1982 |isbn=0-394-50379-1 }}

==External links==
* {{MKlink|id=311}}
* {{YouTube|ElCNPzcPXdk|Interview 25 February 1990}} by [[Leon Charney]] on The Leon Charney Report

{{IsraelSouthernCommandChiefs}}
{{Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces}}
{{Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces}}
{{Israeli Development Ministers}}
{{Israeli Industry, Trade and Labour Ministers}}
{{Israeli Internal Security Ministers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bar-Lev, Haim}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Palmach members]]
[[Category:People of the Suez Crisis]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Israel to Russia]]
[[Category:Austrian Zionists]]
[[Category:20th-century Israeli Jews]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Israel]]
[[Category:Israeli Labor Party politicians]]
[[Category:Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Alignment (Israel) politicians]]
[[Category:Ministers of development of Israel]]
[[Category:Ministers of public security of Israel]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984)]]
[[Category:Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)]]
[[Category:Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992)]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]