Haim Laskov (Hebrew: חיים לסקוב; 1919 – 8 December 1982) was an Israeli public figure and the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

After the war, he remained in Europe to participate in the Aliyah Bet illegal immigration effort to bring refugee Jews to Palestine.

Along with other veterans of the Jewish Brigade, he also took part in extrajudicial executions of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators as vengeance for crimes committed against Jews.

Upon completing his tenure in 1953, Laskov left the army to study philosophy, economics, and political science (PPE) in the United Kingdom.

Upon the death of Asaf Simchoni, Chief of the Southern Command, in a plane crash, Laskov assumed his position, and oversaw the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai Peninsula.

His appointment took place against the backdrop of the unification of Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic on January 31 of that year and the potential threat this posed to the security of Israel.

During the parade, Laskov displayed Israel's latest military hardware, including weapons captured from Egypt in the Sinai and from Syria during clashes in the Hula Valley.

On November 6, Syria resumed its artillery bombardment of the Galilee, while Israeli workers were involved in a massive project draining Lake Huleh to obtain more agricultural land for the country.

Known as the "Night of the Ducks" (one of the coded call-up signals broadcast over the radio was "Water Fowl"), the event caused panic throughout the country, and put the armies of the neighboring Arab states on high alert.

Just before he left office, prime minister David Ben-Gurion also announced that the country had built a nuclear reactor outside the desert town of Dimona.