Eliezer Toledano

Eliezer Toledano (אליעזר טולדנו; born 12 October 1973) is an Israeli Aluf (major general) who served as the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, the Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, the commander of the Gaza Division and of the Southern Command. Currently, he heads the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Military career
In 1990, Toledano became an infantry officer after completing officer candidate school, and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1991. He served as 890 "Efe" (Echis) Paratroop Battalion Executive Officer during Operation Defensive Shield, led 101st "Peten" (Elapidae) paratroop battalion in counter-terror operations during the Second Intifada. Later on he commanded Maglan Unit in the 2006 Lebanon War. Afterwards he served as the Executive Officer of the Judea and Samaria Division and as the commander of a Reserve Paratroopers Brigade. During Operation Protective Edge, under his command, the 35th Paratroopers Brigade was assigned to operate in Khan Yunis. It had located and destroyed four of Hamas' terror tunnels and killed 141 terrorists. Afterwards he was appointed as the Military Secretary to the Prime Minister.

In October 2018, he was named commander of the IDF's Gaza Division, and filled this role until August 2020. During his cadence, he led the Gaza Division through the 2018–2019 Gaza border protests and various military operations and clashes versus the terror organizations Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. The most prominent of those are Operation Black Belt, May 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes, and the November 2018 Gaza–Israel clashes.

In March 2021 he was appointed to be the commander of the Southern Command, and led the operation Guardian of the Walls right after his appointment. He held the appointment until 9 July 2023, when he was succeeded by Yaron Finkelman.

He now leads the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Some members of the Israeli press deemed Toledano, who was commander of the Southern command until July 2023, and the ideology that Toledano and his superior Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi espoused, as being a significant cause for the failure of the Israeli military to defend southern Israel during Hamas's October 7, 2023 invasion. In contrast, it was revealed to the press that during a meeting of Southern Command high officers in November 2022, Toledano expressed his opinion that Hamas would end up attacking Israel, as its ultimate end commands, and as such the IDF should make a Preemptive strike.