Tzvi Tzur

Tzvi Tzur (also transliterated Zvi Tsur; Hebrew: צבי צור; 17 April 1923 – 28 December 2004) was an Israeli officer who served as the IDF's 6th Chief of Staff (1961–1963).

Tzur was born in the Zaslav in the Soviet Union (now Iziaslav in Ukraine) in 1923, as Tsvi Tsera Tsertenko, and made Aliyah to Mandatory Palestine at the age of two.

Tzur sought to draw quality manpower to the IDF and decided in June 1961 to provide officers with a private car for their personal usage.

In August 1961, the president of Egypt, Gamal Abdul Nasser, revealed that Israel had obtained Dassault Mirage III jet fighters to counter Egyptian Soviet-made MiG-19s.

The Mirages contributed substantially to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War and the elimination of the combined Arab airpower of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, as did other two notable acquisitions by Tzur, the Centurion tanks and MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missile technology.

Tzur was active in public affairs until his last days, and on 29 April 2004 he signed a letter in support of Ariel Sharon's disengament plan.

Tzur alongside Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion. 1960, Boris Carmi, Meitar collection, National Library of Israel
Tzur alongside Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion . 1960, Boris Carmi , Meitar collection, National Library of Israel