‘I want to fix the IDF’: Noam Tibon on the impact of Oct. 7 and what he plans to do in Knesset

The morning after he mounted a harrowing mission to rescue his son’s family from Hamas terrorists on October 7,  2023, Noam Tibon says, he “woke up a different man.”

That experience, more than two years ago, led the retired major general to take a leading role in anti-government protests during the war and, three weeks ago, to throw his hat into the political ring as the latest addition to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid party.

Now, Tibon, 63, says he has hugely ambitious goals for what he hopes will be his time in the Knesset and the government: He wants, he summarizes, to “fix the IDF,” which he says has become politicized and too tame in fighting enemies beyond its borders.

Like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former premier Naftali Bennett, Tibon served in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. He later rose through the ranks, eventually commanding the army’s Northern Corps.

Tibon exited the military a decade ago and later founded the Defensive Shield of Israel Forum, comprising former IDF Chiefs of Staff, Shin Bet heads, and other generals and security officials, which has called for the current government to be replaced. He also led the Generals’ Project, a post-October 7 initiative that dispatched reserve generals to communities in the south.

Tibon gained renown in Israel and beyond for heading south during the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught to rescue his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, his daughter-in-law, and their two young children from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz while it was under attack. An award-winning documentary was subsequently made about that rescue.

Sitting with The Times of Israel in a lively north Tel Aviv cafe earlier this month, Tibon discussed the impact of his October 7 experience, his decision to run for Knesset, and what he hopes to do once there, including demanding Haredi conscription and changes to the way Israel’s military protects its citizens.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Times of Israel: Over the past two years, you’ve been very active in the anti-government protest movement. What led you to decide........

© The Times of Israel