Amir Avivi
Amir Avivi · Heroes of Israel
Combat engineer who served thirty years in the IDF (1987-2017) and retired a brigadier general, then founded Habithonistim, the Israel Defense and Security Forum (2020); son of the diplomat Pinchas Avivi.
16 April 1969, Jerusalem, Israel
Jerusalem
Amir Avivi is recognized among Israeli contributors to Heroes of Israel — Combat engineer who served thirty years in the IDF (1987-2017) and retired a brigadier general, then founded Habithonistim, the Israel Defense and Security Forum (2020); son of the diplomat Pinchas Avivi.
Origins and early life
Amir Avivi was born in Jerusalem on 16 April 1969, the eldest of three brothers, and spent much of his childhood abroad with his father, Pinchas Avivi, a diplomat who served as Israel's ambassador to Colombia, Chile and Turkey. His mother, Madeleine, was born in Bulgaria and came to the country just before the state was founded, and he describes himself as a Jerusalemite through and through, from a family expelled from Spain that has lived in the city for fifteen generations.
He grew up in a family that was not religious but held the Bible and Jewish history in respect, and he has said that his national Jewish identity was strong and that, at home, Zionism rested on being Jewish.
Work and career
At eighteen he came back to Israel alone, enlisted as a combat soldier in the Combat Engineering Corps in 1987, and served for three decades, until 2017. His posts included commander of the Combat Engineering School and of Battalion 605, commander of the Sagi Brigade, deputy commander of the Gaza Division, head of the Chief of Staff's office and deputy comptroller of the defence establishment, and he retired as a brigadier general.
In 2020 he founded Habithonistim, the Israel Defense and Security Forum, which brings together reserve and retired officers and members of the security services, and in May 2023 he published the book No Retreat: How to Secure Israel for Generations to Come. In 2023 the Jerusalem Post ranked him thirty-seventh among the fifty most influential Jews in the world, and in September 2026 he was given a reserved place on the Likud list for the elections to the twenty-sixth Knesset.
Verify and go deeper with these external references.
Source: Wikipedia — Amir Avivi ; Arutz Sheva ; JDN ; Jerusalem Post
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Combat engineer who served thirty years in the IDF (1987-2017) and retired a brigadier general, then founded Habithonistim, the Israel Defense and Security Forum (2020); son of the diplomat Pinchas Avivi.
Source: Wikipedia — Amir Avivi ; Arutz Sheva ; JDN ; Jerusalem Post
