# Central Command (Israel) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Central_Command_(Israel) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Central_Command_(Israel).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Command_(Israel) > Source revision: 1355901676 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) The **Central Command** (Hebrew: פיקוד מרכז, *Pikud Merkaz*), often abbreviated to **Pakmaz** (פקמ"ז), is a regional [command](/source/Command_(military_formation)) of the [Israel Defense Forces](/source/Israel_Defense_Forces). It is responsible for the [units](/source/Military_unit) and [brigades](/source/Brigade) located in the [West Bank](/source/West_Bank) (under the [West Bank Division](/source/West_Bank_Division)), [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem), the [Sharon](/source/Sharon,_Israel), [Gush Dan](/source/Gush_Dan), and the [Shephelah](/source/Shephelah). The [commander](/source/Aluf) of the central command is the one who is authorized to declare new cities in the [Judea and Samaria Area](/source/Judea_and_Samaria_Area).[1] ## History During the [1948 Arab–Israeli War](/source/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War), the Central Command was in-charge of the war efforts against [Jordan](/source/Jordan), particularly on the road to [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem), occupying the "Small Triangle" (east [Sharon](/source/Sharon,_Israel)), [Lod](/source/Lod), and [Ramla](/source/Ramla). During the [Six-Day War](/source/Six-Day_War), the Command led the occupation of the [West Bank](/source/West_Bank) from Jordan. As of the [First Intifada](/source/First_Intifada), the Command primarily engages in security and [counter-terrorism](/source/Counter-terrorism) activities, as well as more conventional military measures, in the West Bank. Towards the end of 2010 the deployment of IDF troops in and around the West Bank reached a new quantitative low with only half the number of infantry battalions serving where "dozens" were required during the first Intifada.[2] ## Command organization 2025 - **Central Command**, in [Neve Yaakov](/source/Neve_Yaakov) - **[96th Division "Gilead"](/source/96th_Division_(Israel))**[3] - 182nd Infantry Brigade "Uri" (Reserve) - 185th Infantry Brigade "Tel Hai" (Reserve) - 186th Infantry Brigade "Jezreel" (Reserve) - 187th Infantry Brigade "Jonathan" (Reserve) - 189th Infantry Brigade "Negba" (Reserve) - 417th Territorial Brigade "[Jordan Valley](/source/Jordan_Valley_(Middle_East))" - **[98th Division "Ha-Esh"/"Fire"](/source/98th_Paratroopers_Division)** - [35th Paratroopers Brigade "Shfifon/Flying Serpent"](/source/35th_Paratroopers_Brigade_(Israel)) - [55th Paratroopers Brigade "Hod Ha-Hanit/Spearhead"](/source/55th_Paratroopers_Brigade_(Israel)) (Reserve) - [89th Commando Brigade "Oz/Courage"](/source/Oz_Brigade) - 551st Paratroopers Brigade "Hetzei Ha-Esch/Fire Arrows" (Reserve) - 214th Artillery Brigade "David's Sling" - **[99th Division "Ha'Bazak/Flash"](/source/99th_Infantry_Division_(Israel))** (Reserve) - [11th Infantry Brigade "Yiftach"](/source/Yiftach_Brigade) (Reserve) - 179th Armored Brigade "Ram" (Reserve) - [900th Infantry Brigade "Kfir"](/source/Kfir_Brigade) - 646th Paratroopers Brigade "Schualey Marom" (Reserve) - 990th Artillery Brigade (Reserve artillery command without permanently attached battalions) - Division Logistic Group - **[877th Division "Judea and Samaria"](/source/Judea_and_Samaria_Division)** - 421st Territorial Brigade "Ephraim" – [Qalqilya](/source/Qalqilya) sector - 426th Territorial Brigade "Etzion" – [Bethlehem](/source/Bethlehem) sector - [431st Territorial Brigade "Menashe"](/source/Menashe_Territorial_Brigade) – [Jenin](/source/Jenin) and [Tulkarm](/source/Tulkarm) sectors - 434th Territorial Brigade "Yehuda" – [Hebron](/source/Hebron) sector - 442nd Territorial Brigade "Samaria" – [Nablus](/source/Nablus) sector - 443rd Territorial Brigade "Benjamin" – [Ramallah](/source/Ramallah) sector and Road 443 - 372nd Signal Battalion "Segev" - Central Command Engineering Unit 802 - Central Command Intelligence Unit - Central Command Military Police Unit 391 - Central Command Medical Unit - Central Command Training Base "Lahish" - 5004th Logistic Group ## Commanders All commanders of the Central Command were ranked [Aluf](/source/Aluf) ([Major General](/source/Major_General)). - [Zvi Ayalon](/source/Zvi_Ayalon) (1948–1952) - [Yosef Avidar](/source/Yosef_Avidar) (1952–1953) - Zvi Ayalon (1954–1956) - [Zvi Zur](/source/Zvi_Zur) (1956–1958) - [Meir Amit](/source/Meir_Amit) (1958–1959) - [Yosef Geva](/source/Yosef_Geva) (1960–1966) - [Uzi Narkis](/source/Uzi_Narkis) (1966–1968) - [Rehav'am Ze'evi](/source/Rehav'am_Ze'evi) (1968–1972) - [Yona Efrat](/source/Yona_Efrat) (1973–1977) - [Moshe Levi](/source/Moshe_Levi) (1977–1981) - [Ori Orr](/source/Ori_Orr) (1981–1983) - [Amnon Lipkin-Shahak](/source/Amnon_Lipkin-Shahak) (1983–1986) - [Ehud Barak](/source/Ehud_Barak) (1986–1987) - [Amram Mitzna](/source/Amram_Mitzna) (1987–1989) - [Yitzhak Mordechai](/source/Yitzhak_Mordechai) (1989–1991) - [Danny Yatom](/source/Danny_Yatom) (1991–1993) - [Nehemiah Tamari](/source/Nehemiah_Tamari) (1993–1994) - KIA - Danny Yatom (1994) - [Ilan Birn](/source/Ilan_Birn) (1994–1995) - [Uzi Dayan](/source/Uzi_Dayan) (1996–1998) - [Moshe Ya'alon](/source/Moshe_Ya'alon) (1998–2000) - [Yitzhak Eitan](/source/Yitzhak_Eitan) (2000–2002) - [Moshe Kaplinsky](/source/Moshe_Kaplinsky) (2002–2004) - [Yair Nave](/source/Yair_Nave) (2004–2007) - [Gadi Shamni](/source/Gadi_Shamni) (2007–2009) - [Avi Mizrahi](/source/Avi_Mizrahi) (2009–2012)[4] - [Nitzan Alon](/source/Nitzan_Alon) (2012–2015) - [Roni Numa](/source/Roni_Numa) (2015–2018) - [Nadav Padan](/source/Nadav_Padan) (2018–2020) - [Tamir Yadai](/source/Tamir_Yadai) (2020–2021) - [Yehuda Fox](/source/Yehuda_Fox) (2021–2024)[5] - [Avi Bluth](/source/Avi_Bluth) (2024-) ## See also - [Israel Defense Forces](/source/Israel_Defense_Forces) - [IDF Code of Ethics](/source/IDF_Code_of_Ethics) ## References 1. Golan, Boaz (2008-03-07). ["Modi'in Illit Declared a City"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080619080405/http://www.netnet.co.il/showart.php?art_id=1144) (in Hebrew). [NRG](/source/NRG_(Maariv)). Archived from [the original](http://www.netnet.co.il/showart.php?art_id=1144) on 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-03-08. 1. Pfeffer, Anshel (28 November 2010). ["West Bank Sees Lowest IDF Troop Levels Since First Intifada"](https://www.haaretz.com/2010-11-28/ty-article/west-bank-sees-lowest-idf-troop-levels-since-first-intifada/0000017f-db8c-df62-a9ff-dfdfdc7b0000). *[Haaretz](/source/Haaretz)*. Retrieved 2023-10-08. 1. Fabian, Emanuel. ["IDF says structural changes to military include bolstering border and air defense units"](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-structural-changes-to-military-include-bolstering-border-and-air-defense-units/). Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 June 2025. 1. ["IDF chief Ashkenazi announces new hires in General Staff - Haaretz - Israel News"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090810190207/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105826.html). Archived from [the original](https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105826.html) on 2009-08-10. 1. ["Breaking silence, Netanyahu defends IDF general attacked by coalition MKs"](https://www.timesofisrael.com/breaking-silence-netanyahu-defends-idf-general-attacked-by-coalition-mks/). *[The Times of Israel](/source/The_Times_of_Israel)*. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-08. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Central Command (Israel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Command_(Israel)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Command_(Israel)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.