Ofer Winter

Ofer Winter (עופר וינטר; born February 3, 1971) is a retired IDF officer with the rank of Brigadier General, in the reserves since 2024.

According to him, he received his combat heritage from his father David (Dutzo), who during the Yom Kippur War was a soldier in the 113th Armored Battalion and fought on both sides of the Suez Canal for 19 consecutive days.

[1] From 1985 to 1989, he studied at the Or Etzion Military Boarding School for Command, and continued at the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli in the second cohort.

[1] In 2003, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed commander of the Givati Reconnaissance Battalion, serving in the position until 2005.

At the beginning of the operation, on July 9, 2014, a "Commander's Page for Battle" he wrote to the brigade's soldiers was published, in which, in addition to messages such as emphasizing mission accomplishment and defending the people and the homeland,[1] he wrote:"The history has chosen us to be at the forefront of the fight against the fierce Gazan terrorist enemy, who defies, curses, and reviles the God of Israel's armies.

[1] During the operation, the brigade's fighters under his command killed many terrorists and uncovered and destroyed combat tunnels and infrastructure used by Hamas.

The award was given to him, a team from MAFAT-Ministry of Defense, Shayetet 13, and the companies Rafael and Artemis for the "Snake Pit" project – a system that combines several technologies to deal with the underground threat, which was integrated during Operation Protective Edge and proved to have significant operational contribution.

[6] On July 13, 2016, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and appointed Chief of Staff of the Central Command, a position he held until September 2018.

During his tenure, he served under Defense Ministers Avigdor Lieberman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, and Benny Gantz.

On June 9, 2021, the Chief of Staff, Aviv Kohavi, reprimanded him for a conversation he had with Knesset member Naftali Bennett without approval and without reporting it to his superiors, contrary to IDF regulations prohibiting direct contact between servicemen and elected officials.

Winter as the Defense Minister's Military Secretary, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Ministry official Zohar Pelti and Israel's Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer at a meeting at the Pentagon in the United States, February 2020