The Southern Command (), often abbreviated to Padam (), 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 Yaniv Asor.

History 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.

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. , 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.

On January 21, 2025, Finkelman submitted his resignation as commander of the Southern Command over the failures of October 7. He has stayed until a successor is named.

Command organization

 Southern Command   80th Territorial Division "Edom" 406th Territorial Brigade "Yoav" 460th Armored Brigade "Bnei Or/Sons of Light" (In peacetime functions as Armor School) 512th Territorial Brigade "Paran" 425th Artillery Brigade (In peacetime functions as Field Artillery School) Division Logistic Group   143rd Territorial Division "Firefox" 261st Infantry Brigade (Reserve) (formed by the Israeli Ground Forces' Officers School; will transfer to the 252nd Division in 2026) 6643rd Territorial Brigade "Katif" (Southern Gaza) 7643rd Territorial Brigade "Gefen" (Northern Gaza) 8643rd Division Logistic Group   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" 6162nd Division Logistic Group   252nd Armored Division "Sinai" 10th Armored Brigade "Harel" (Reserve) 12th Infantry Brigade "Negev" (Reserve) 14th Armored Brigade "Machatz" (Reserve) 16th Infantry Brigade "Jerusalem" (Reserve) 454th Artillery Brigade "Tabor/Fire Flame" (Reserve) Division Logistic Group 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 Training Base "Tze'elim" 5005th Logistic Group (Southwest) 5006th Logistic Group (Southeast)

Commanders NameDatesImageNotesYigal Allon1948–1949Yitzhak Rabin1949Acting commanderMoshe DayanOctober 1949 – October 1951Moshe TzadokOctober 1951 – January 19541954Acting commander1955Meir AmitNovember 1955 – August 1956Asaf SimhoniAugust–November 1956Acting commander in Operation KadeshHaim LaskovNovember 1956 – January 1958Chaim HerzogJanuary–July 1958Avraham YoffeJuly 1958 – May 1962Zvi ZamirMay 1962 – December 1965Yeshayahu GavishDecember 1965 – December 1969Ariel SharonDecember 1969 – July 1973Shmuel GonenJuly–November 1973Haim Bar-LevOctober 1973As former Chief of Staff, assumed command during the Yom Kippur WarIsrael TalNovember 1973 – January 1974Avraham AdanJanuary–July 1974Yekutiel AdamJuly 1974 – March 1976Herzl ShafirMarch 1976 – February 1978Dan ShomronFebruary 1978 – January 1982January 1982 – October 1983October 1983 – February 1986Uri SagiFebruary–August 1986Yitzhak MordechaiAugust 1986 – 1989Matan Vilnai1989 – November 1994Shaul MofazNovember 1994 – 19961996 – September 1997Yom-Tov SamiaSeptember 1997 – 2000Doron Almog2000 – July 2003Dan HarelJuly 2003 – October 2005Yoav GallantOctober 2005 – October 2010Tal RussoOctober 2010 – April 2013Sami TurgemanApril 2013 – October 2015Eyal Zamir14 October 2015 – 6 June 2018Herzi Halevi6 June 2018 – 21 March 2021Eliezer Toledano21 March 2021 – 9 July 2023Yaron Finkelman9 July 2023 – 12 March 2025Yaniv Asor12 March 2025 –

See also Israel Defense Forces IDF Code of Ethics Negev Negev Brigade

References