Shomron, Dan

(1937- )

   Born in Ashdot Yaacov, he joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1956. As chief infantry and paratrooper officer of the IDF, he was placed in overall command of Operation Entebbe. Shomron became chief of staff of the IDF in 1987 and retained that post until retiring from active service in April 1991. After his retirement, he served as the chairman of the Israeli Military Industries. He was involved in the early organizing of the Third Way (Derech HaSlisheet) Party that made a successful entry into the electoral process in the Knesset election of 1996. In late 1996, Shomron served briefly as Israel's chief negotiator in security talks with the Palestinian Authority. He was commissioned to probe the performance of IDF during the Second Lebanon War (2006), and his strong criticism of serious operational mistakes committed by the IDF senior command contributed to Dan Halutz's decision to resign as IDF chief of staff in January 2007. Shomron died on 26 February 2008 at the age of 70.