Tal was born in Mahanayim . On his mother 's side he was descended from Hasidic Jews who migrated to Safed and Tiberias in 1777 . He lived in Safed from the age of five and lived through the 1929 Safed riots . Tal began his military service with the British Army 's Jewish Brigade , serving as a squad leader in Italy during the Second World War . He later served as a junior infantry officer during the 1947 – 1949 Palestine war , as a brigade commander during the 1956 Sinai War , an armored-division commander in Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War , and commander of the southern front during the final stages of the Yom Kippur War
1929 Safed riots
1929 Safed riots
Israel Tal