Yehuda Vach
Yehuda Vach | |
|---|---|
Vach in November 2022 | |
| Native name | יהודה ואך |
| Born | 1979 (age 46–47) |
| Allegiance | Israel |
| Branch | Israel Defense Forces |
| Conflicts |
|
Yehuda Vach (Hebrew: יהודה ואך, born 1979), is an Israeli military officer who has served in the Lebanon and Gaza wars. He is also a musician.[1]
Early life and education
Yehuda Vach was born in 1979 in Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.[1]
He attended the Bnei David mechina in Eli, another West Bank settlement. The school provides religious as well as paramilitary training in preparation for military service in the IDF.[2][3]
Military service
| Date | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 onwards | Officer | Active Officer |
| 2006 | Officer | Participant in the Lebanon War |
| 2019 | Commander Brigade 769[4] | |
| 2021 | Colonel | Commander Heiram Brigade, Northern Command.[5] |
| Aug 2021- June 2023 | Colonel | Commander of Bahad 1, IDF officers' school[6][7] |
| July 2024 - Dec 2024 | Brigadier General | Gaza war, Commander of Netzarim Corridor (252nd Div) |
| August 2024 - Present | Brigadier General | Gaza war, Commander of 252nd "Sinai" Division[8] |
Operational Doctrine
Vach has criticized the doctrine of defensive self-fortification saying that walls seem to project strength but actually project fear. [5]
Personal life
Vach is the son of Shalom and Liat Vach and has ten brothers. He lives in Meirav, a religious kibbutz in northern Israel.[1] His brother, Golan Vach, also serves as a Colonel in the IDF reserves, and was involved in the beheaded babies hoax. Golan was later injured by a tunnel collapse in the Netzarim Corridor while he headed "a small dubious unit", under his brothers command, destroying civilian buildings in Gaza. .[7][9][10]
Their younger brother Elishev Wach, a captain in the IDF reserves, led protests outside Defense Minister Yoav Galant's house to promote greater intensity and "total war", after Golan was trapped in the tunnel collapse. [11]
References
- ^ a b c פינקלר, קובי. "מפקד חדש לבית הספר לקצינים - אל"מ יהודה ואך" [New Commander of the Officers' School - Col. Yehuda Vach]. ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ Pileggi, Tamar (30 April 2019). "Embracing racism, rabbis at pre-army yeshiva laud Hitler, urge enslaving Arabs". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ Cypel, Sylvain (10 February 2025). "Israël. L'armée coloniale à l'heure du messianisme". Orient XXI (in French). Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ "The Vach brothers: Israel's first family of genocide". Lemkin Institute. 29 April 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
- ^ a b Jager, Avi (2021). "The Transformation of the Israel Defense Forces". Naval War College Review. 74 (2): 13–36. ISSN 0028-1484.
- ^ פינקלר, קובי. "מפקד חדש לבית הספר לקצינים - אל"מ יהודה ואך". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Report: Soldiers allege division commander recklessly endangered troops in Gaza". The Times of Israel. 1 January 2025. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
- ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (18 December 2024). "'No Civilians. Everyone's a Terrorist': IDF Soldiers Expose Arbitrary Killings and Rampant Lawlessness in Gaza's Netzarim Corridor". Haaretz.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Israeli officer says he found baby beheaded in Hamas attack". France 24. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
- ^ Zitun, Yoav (10 September 2024). "IDF officer known for pulling people out of earthquake rubble seriously injured in Gaza tunnel collapse". Ynetglobal. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ ""תנצח או תתפטר": קצינים ומשפחות שכולות הפגינו מול בית גלנט". מקור ראשון (in Hebrew). 11 September 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2026.