Editing Shaul Mofaz (section)

== Military service ==
[[File:Shaul Mofaz, Chief of General Staff.jpg|thumb|left|218x218px|Shaul Mofaz as Chief of General Staff]]

Upon graduating from high school in 1966, he was conscripted into [[Israel Defense Forces]] and served in the [[Paratroopers Brigade]]. He fought in the [[Six-Day War]] as a paratrooper on the southern front against the Egyptian Army. After his mandatory service, Mofaz remained in the IDF as a career officer. He became an officer in 1969, commanded a paratrooper platoon in the 890th Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, then commanded a company of the 890th Battalion in 1971. He took part in the [[War of Attrition]] and the [[Yom Kippur War]]. During the Yom Kippur War, he participated in [[Operation Gown]] and Operation Davidka, two raids deep in Syrian territory. Mofaz became Deputy Commander of the 890th Battalion in 1974. He was appointed Deputy Commander of [[Sayeret Matkal]], an elite commando unit, in 1975 and took part in [[Operation Entebbe]] the following year. After taking a sabbatical to study at [[Bar-Ilan University]] in 1976, he returned to active service in 1978. He was appointed commander of the 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade, and became Deputy Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade in 1980. He commanded the 769th Territorial Brigade in 1981.<ref name="idf.il">{{cite web| url = https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/past-chiefs-of-staff/lt-gen-shaul-mofaz-1998-2002/| title = Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz (1998-2002)}}</ref>
[[File:Mofaz Wolfowitz.jpg|thumb|275x275px|The Chief of Staff Gen. Shaul Mofaz (right foreground) meets with U.S. [[Deputy Secretary of Defense]] [[Paul Wolfowitz]] (left), and other senior U.S. Department of Defense officials in [[the Pentagon]]]]
Mofaz was an infantry brigade commander during the [[1982 Lebanon War]]. Afterward, he attended the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College in [[MCB Quantico|Quantico]], [[Virginia]], [[United States]]. On his return, he was briefly appointed IDF Command and Staff College commander before returning to active service. He was appointed Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade in 1986, and led its forces in counterinsurgency operations in the [[South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)|South Lebanon security zone]]. He played a major role in [[Operation Law and Order]].<ref>Gal Perl Finkel, [https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Importance-of-IDF-Ground-Forces-in-new-army-appointments-581282 Importance of IDF Ground Forces in new army appointments], ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', 21 February 2019.</ref><ref name=idf.il/>

Mofaz served in a series of senior military posts and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1988. In 1993 he was made commander of the IDF forces in the [[West Bank]]. In 1994, he was promoted to Major General, commanding the Southern Command, during which the IDF battled [[Hamas]] and [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Islamic Jihad]] networks in the [[Gaza Strip]]. In 1996, he served as head of the Planning Directorate of the IDF General Staff. His rapid rise continued; in 1997, Mofaz was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Commander of the Operations Directorate. In 1998, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff.

His term as Chief of Staff was noted for financial and structural reforms of the IDF. His tenure also saw continued operations in the South Lebanon security zone and the withdrawal from the security zone in 2000. But the most significant event in his tenure was the [[Second Intifada]] eruption in September 2000. The tough tactics undertaken by Mofaz drew widespread concern from the international community but were broadly supported by the Israeli public. Controversy erupted over Israeli actions during the [[Battle of Jenin (2002)|Battle of Jenin]], intermittent raids in the [[Gaza Strip]], and the continued isolation of [[Yasser Arafat]].

Mofaz had foreseen the wave of violence as early as 1999 and prepared the IDF for intense [[guerrilla warfare]] in the territories. He fortified posts in the Gaza Strip and kept Israeli military casualties low. While he was known for claiming, "Israel has the most moral army in the world,"<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.636066 When it comes to its morality, Israel prefers not to be tried] Haaretz, 8 Jan 2015,</ref> he drew criticism from both Israeli and international human rights monitoring groups because of the methods he had undertaken, including using [[armored bulldozer]]s to demolish 2,500 Palestinian civilian homes, displacing thousands, to create a security "buffer zone" along the [[Rafah, Egypt|Rafah]] border.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 January 2011|access-date=15 October 2012|url=http://www.btselem.org/razing/rafah_egyptian_border|publisher=B'tselem|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203100451/http://www.btselem.org/razing/rafah_egyptian_border|archive-date=3 December 2012|url-status=live|title=Demolition for alleged military purposes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=15 October 2012|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/10/17/razing-rafah-0|title=Razing Rafah: Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip|date=18 October 2004|publisher=Human RIghts Watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804164900/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/10/17/razing-rafah-0|archive-date=4 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>