Moshe Tzadok

Moshe Tzadok
Moshe Tzadok (2nd from the left), November 9, 1949
Native name	משה צדוק
Birth name	Moshe Lehrer Tzadok
Born	(1913-07-01)July 1, 1913 Radom, Poland
Died	March 15, 1964(1964-03-15) (aged 50) Israel
Buried	Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery
Allegiance	Israel
Service / branch	Haganah Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1933 - April 1956
Rank	Aluf
Commands	Head of the Manpower Directorate, May 1947–1949 Head of the Israeli Southern Command, 1951-1954 Head of the Israeli Northern Command, 1954–1956
Battles / wars	1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine 1947–1949 Palestine war
Spouse(s)	Hadassah Petrushka (Hebrew: הדסה פטרושקה)
Other work	Head of the Division of Interior and Construction of the Ministry of Defense

Moshe Lehrer Tzadok (sometimes spelled Moshe Zadok; Hebrew: משה צדוק (לֶרֶר); July 1, 1913 - March 15, 1964^[1]) was Haganah fighter and later an IDF major general, first head of the Manpower Directorate during the 1947–1949 Palestine war,^[2] and head of the Israeli Northern and Southern Command during the early 1950s.^[3] After retiring from the IDF, Tzadok became the head of the Division of Interior and Construction of the Ministry of Defense.

Tzadok was born on July 1, 1913, to Mendel and Nechama Lehrer in a small town of Żelechów near Radom, Poland.^[1][4] After completing his junior year, Tzadok continued his education in a vocational school sponsored by ORT in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

Tzadok became a Zionist from the age of 14 when he joined the Zionist youth movement in his hometown. In 1933 Tzadok immigrated to Israel.^[4] Soon after arriving in Israel he joined the Haganah. In 1936 he graduated from the Juara training base in Ramat Menashe, in northern Israel.^[1]

During the early 1940s Tzadok became a prominent member of the Haganah. Prior to the Haganah's capture of Haifa, he served as the Fire chief of the Haifa Fire Department which facilitated covert Haganah operations in the city. Additionally, he thought Haganah courses.^[1]

Tzadok became the first head of the Manpower Directorate in May 1947, shortly after its foundation.^[5] Tzadok continued to serve in that capacity with the rank of Aluf after the formation of the Israel Defense Forces on June 27, 1948.^[6] In the summer of 1949 he married Hadassah Petrushka. The couple had no children.

In 1950 Moshe was appointed Inspector General of the IDF and in March of that year he became the commander of the Eighth Command which was established to organize military reserve in the Tel Aviv area. On October 17, 1951, he was appointed head of the Southern Command, a position he held until February 1, 1954.^[4] He was then appointed head of the Israeli Northern Command^[7] until April 20, 1956, when he was released from his service in the army after 23 years of military service. His position was taken over by Yitzhak Rabin.^[8]

In 1957, at the age of 44 after passing the Bagrut he started learning at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at the Hebrew University.^[1] He graduated in 1960 and in 1961 he was appointed head of the Division of Interior and Construction of the Ministry of Defense.^[4] Moshe Zadok died of an illness in 1964, at the age of 50. He was buried in Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery