David "Dado" Elazar (; 27 August 1925 – 15 April 1976) was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. Early life David (Dado) Elazar was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, to a family of Sephardic heritage. He emigrated to Palestine in 1940 with the Youth Aliyah program and settled on kibbutz Ein Shemer. He soon joined the Palmach and fought in many important battles during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, including the Battle of San Simon Monastery in Jerusalem. As a soldier, he advanced through the ranks, eventually serving as commander of the famous HaPortzim Battalion of the Harel Brigade. Elazar remained in the army after the war, transferring to the armored corps following the 1956 Sinai campaign. He served as deputy to the commander of the corps, Haim Bar Lev, taking over as commander of the armored corps in 1961. He remained in this position until 1964, when he was appointed Chief of the Northern Command, a position he held until 1969. During the Six-Day War of 1967 he was a crucial advocate for the occupation of the strategic Golan Heights, which was then a part of Syria, and he oversaw the capture in just two days. After the war, Elazar served as the chief operations officer on the general staff. On 1 January 1972, he was appointed Chief of Staff. Chief of General Staff The first months of his tenure were spent combating terrorism. On 30 May, the Japanese Red Army killed 25 civilians and wounded 71 more at an attack on Lod Airport, Israel's leading transportation hub (see: Lod Airport Massacre). On 5 September of that year, another group attacked Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The attack became known as the Munich Massacre. In response to these attacks, Elazar ordered what was, until then, the largest strike against Palestinian bases in Syria and Lebanon. Three Syrian jets were downed, and dozens of fedayeen were killed in a heavy artillery barrage. In Operation Spring of Youth, which took place on the night of 9–10 April 1973, dozens more Palestinians, including several key Palestinian leaders, were assassinated in Beirut by the IDF. One of the decisions made by Elazar during his tenure was the order to down a Libyan passenger jet that