Maj. Gen. (ret.) Dan Tolkowsky passed away on Friday, at 104 years old, leaving behind his three children and more than a decade of military service, the IDF announced.
Tolkowsky will be laid to rest, with a full military ceremony, on Monday at 2:30 PM at the Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery in Tel Aviv.
Maj. Gen. Dan Tolkowsky's life of military service
The great-grandfather of nine was born in Tel Aviv in 1921. In his youth, he joined the Haganah, a Zionist paramilitary organization active in the British Mandate of Palestine, before eventually traveling to London to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering.
Following the conclusion of his studies, Tolkowsky enlisted in the British Royal Air Force. It was here that he joined the Allied forces in fighting the Nazis in France, Italy, and Greece.
After World War II concluded, Tolowsky returned to Israel and joined the Israel Air Force in 1948. He fought on the Egyptian front during Israel’s War of Independence.
Only five years into his career with the IDF, Tolowsky was promoted to become an IAF commander. In this post, he succeeded Army Chief of Staff Major General Haim Laskov.
Tolowsky directed the development of a modern jet-propelled air force for Israel, which helped lead the Sinai campaign of 1956, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency.
Eventually retiring from military service, Tolkowsky turned his efforts to Israel’s hi-tech scene, where he became CEO of Discount Investments.