Gabi Ashkenazi

Gabriel Gabi Ashkenazi , was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2007 to 2011. He was the second Mizrahi Jew to become Chief of Staff of the IDF.

Ashkenazi was born and grew up in Hagor, a moshav, or cooperative agricultural community in the Sharon region of central Israel, of which his parents were among the founders. His father, a Holocaust survivor, had immigrated to Israel from Bulgaria, while his mother had immigrated from Syria. Ashkenazi completed high school at a military boarding school affiliated with the prestigious Gymnasia Herzliya in Tel Aviv. His roommates included Yigal Schwartz, a major figure in Israeli literature, and Yoav Kutner, an acclaimed music editor and journalist.

Source: Wikipedia