Southern Command (Israel)

Southern Command
Southern Command
פיקוד דרום‎
	Padam logo, depicting a fox.
Active	1948–present
Country	Israel
Part of	Israel Defense Forces
Garrison/HQ	Be’er Sheva
Engagements	1948 Palestine war; Suez Crisis; Six Day War; War of Attrition; Yom Kippur War; First Intifada; Second Intifada; Gaza War 2008-2009; 2014 Gaza War; 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis; Israel-Hamas war;
Commanders
Current; commander	Aluf Yaron Finkelman
Insignia
Flag

The Southern Command (Hebrew: פיקוד דרום‎, romanized: Pikud Darom), often abbreviated to Padam (פד"מ‎), is a regional command of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is responsible for the Negev, the Arava, and Eilat. It is currently headed by Yaron Finkelman.^[1]

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For many years the Southern Command was tasked with defending the Negev and securing the border on the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. The Southern Command led IDF troops in five wars against Egypt: the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Suez War, the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition, and the Yom Kippur War. This high operational activity and its demanding toll resulted in the Southern Command's Alufs (SCA) being replaced fairly rapidly.^[2]

The most famous leadership replacements took place in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War when Shmuel Gonen was suspended as the SCA due to repeated disputes with Ariel Sharon, who was the previous SCA. The government-appointed Haim Bar-Lev, who was the former Chief of the General Staff, as the new SCA in an emergency directive. After the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the southern front remained quiet and most of the activity centred on guarding the borders from smugglers and fluid security over the Gaza Strip.

During the Second Intifada, the Command was placed in charge-of counter-terrorist efforts. The Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places in the world, was known as a stronghold for extremist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who engaged in Palestinian political violence. The local production and proliferation of light anti-tank weapons by these groups, made travel by lightly armored vehicles dangerous.

From 2004, the fighting in Gaza became especially intensive, and on the IDF's part, included targeted killings, short armored expeditions, and efforts to locate and destroy the smuggling tunnels used by Palestinian militant groups to obtain weapons.

During 2005, the Southern Command was involved in the unilateral Gaza disengagement plan, initiated by Ariel Sharon (Prime Minister of Israel, 2001–2006), which mainly entailed the removals of all Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip and back to the Israeli side of the Green Line. The Command re-situated itself north of the Gaza fence. The Philadelphi Route was given to Egypt, who did not prevent the movement of thousands of Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai through the city of Rafah. As of 2006^[update], the attempt to infiltrate Israel to perform suicide bombings and the launch of Qassam rockets, especially by Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, remains ongoing and is the central focus of the Southern Command.

Southern Command
- 80th Territorial Division "Edom"
  - 406th Territorial Brigade "Yoav" [he]
  - 460th Armored Brigade "Bnei Or/Sons of Light" (Armor Training)
  - 512th Territorial Brigade "Paran"
  - 425th Artillery Brigade (Field Artillery School)
- 143rd Territorial Division "Firefox"
  - 261st Infantry Brigade (Reserve) (formed by the Israeli Ground Forces Officers School)
  - 6643rd Territorial Brigade "Katif" [he] (Southern Gaza)
  - 7643rd Territorial Brigade "Gefen" [he] (Northern Gaza)
- 162nd Armored Division "Ha-Plada/Steel"
  - 5th Infantry Brigade "HaSharon" (Reserve)
  - 84th Infantry Brigade "Givati"
  - 401st Armored Brigade "I'kvot ha-Barzel/Iron Trails"
  - 933rd Infantry Brigade "Nahal"
  - 215th Artillery Brigade "Amud ha-Esh/Pillar of Fire" [he]
- 252nd Armored Division "Sinai"
  - 10th Armored Brigade "Harel" (Reserve)
  - 12th Infantry Brigade "Negev" (Reserve)
  - 14th Armored Brigade "Machatz" [he] (Reserve)
  - 16th Infantry Brigade "Jerusalem" (Reserve)
  - 454th Artillery Brigade "Tabor/Fire Flame" [he] (Reserve)
- 373rd Signal Battalion "Ra'am"
- Southern Command Engineering Unit 803
- Southern Command Intelligence Unit
- Southern Command Military Police Unit 392
- Southern Command Medical Unit
- Southern Command Maintenance Unit 653
- Southern Command Training Base "Tze'elim"
- 5005th Logistic Unit (Southwest)
- 5006th Logistic Unit (Southeast)

More information Name, Dates ...

Name	Dates	Notes	Ref
Yigal Allon	1948–1949
Yitzhak Rabin	1949	Acting commander
Moshe Dayan	October 1949 – October 1951
Moshe Tzadok	October 1951 – January 1954
Yaakov Peri [he]	1954	Acting commander
Zvi Gilat [he]	1955
Meir Amit	November 1955 – August 1956
Asaf Simhoni	August–November 1956	Acting commander in Operation Kadesh
Haim Laskov	November 1956 – January 1958
Chaim Herzog	January–July 1958
Avraham Yoffe	July 1958 – May 1962
Zvi Zamir	May 1962 – December 1965
Yeshayahu Gavish	December 1965 – December 1969
Ariel Sharon	December 1969 – July 1973
Shmuel Gonen	July–November 1973
Haim Bar-Lev	October 1973	As former Chief of Staff, assumed command during the Yom Kippur War
Israel Tal	November 1973 – January 1974
Avraham Adan	January–July 1974
Yekutiel Adam	July 1974 – March 1976
Herzl Shafir	March 1976 – February 1978
Dan Shomron	February 1978 – January 1982
Chaim Erez [he]	January 1982 – October 1983
Moshe Bar-Kochva [he]	October 1983 – February 1986
Uri Sagi	February–August 1986
Yitzhak Mordechai	August 1986 – 1989
Matan Vilnai	1989 – November 1994
Shaul Mofaz	November 1994 – 1996
Shlomo Yanai [he]	1996 – September 1997
Yom-Tov Samia	September 1997 – 2000
Doron Almog	2000 – July 2003
Dan Harel	July 2003 – October 2005
Yoav Gallant	October 2005 – October 2010
Tal Rousso	October 2010 – April 2013
Sami Turgeman	April 2013 – October 2015
Eyal Zamir	14 October 2015 – 6 June 2018
Herzi Halevi	6 June 2018 – 21 March 2021
Eliezer Toledano	21 March 2021 – 9 July 2023
Yaron Finkelman	9 July 2023 –		^[1]