Retired general Noam Tibon, known for Oct. 7 rescue, joins Yesh Atid party

Retired IDF general Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon will join the centrist Yesh Atid party, faction head and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid announced on Tuesday, calling the general, who charged into a combat zone on October 7, 2023, to rescue his family, “a hero of Israel.”

“Noam brings unparalleled security experience to Yesh Atid,” Lapid told reporters in Tel Aviv, running through Tibon’s resume, in both military and civilian life.

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. He also has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

After exiting the military, Tibon founded the Defensive Shield of Israel forum, comprising former IDF Chiefs of Staff, Shin Bet heads, and other generals and security officials. He also led the Generals’ Project, which dispatched reserve generals to communities in the south.

Additionally, Lapid highlighted how Tibon has been an advocate for universal conscription — opposing the de facto blanket exemption enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox men — and for a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 attack.

The current government has moved to codify some of the exemptions for the Haredi population, and has insisted on setting up its own inquiry into October 7, rather than allowing a state commission, which is more powerful and independent of the political echelon.

At a press conference with Lapid, Tibon said he is joining Yesh Atid to establish a government for the “serving [the] public” and that he is now enlisting in “the most important mission” of his life, “saving our beloved State of Israel.”

The retired general vowed that “the next government will establish a state commission of inquiry on its first day in office. This is a security obligation, a moral obligation. We will not give up on it.”

He also said that the “most important lesson of October 7” was that “the State of Israel needs a large and strong army.” Blasting the government’s “despicable draft-dodging law, which harms all of our security,” he vowed to “lead a brave and determined struggle” against the legislation, later calling it an “existential threat to the State of Israel.”

Tibon is well-known in Israel for mounting a mission during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack 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 later made about that rescue.

“On October 7, I saw the failure with my own eyes,” he said Tuesday. “I drove along roads strewn with bodies. I fought terrorists carrying RPGs and AKs, alongside soldiers who scrambled from their homes without vests. Since that awful day, I’ve been saying: Everyone responsible for the failure must go home.”

Tibon also noted that “today, too, we received a painful reminder from Gush Etzion,” referring to Tuesday afternoon’s deadly stabbing attack in the West Bank settlement bloc.

“I was the Etzion Brigade Commander and I love and appreciate the Gush and its people. The poor security situation is the reason I am joining Yesh Atid. To fix and restore security to the citizens of Israel,” he said.

Tibon’s entrance into politics was welcomed by fellow former general Yair Golan, the chairman of the left-wing Democrats party.

“We are at a critical time for the future of the state and will need everyone who can join the campaign,” Golan posted on X.

Asked at the press conference why he joined centrist Yesh Atid in particular, Tibon noted that both Golan and Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot served as his commanders in the army, and said he has great admiration for them.

“I chose to join Yesh Atid because I believe in the way and values of Yair Lapid. I believe in collaboration with all the parties in the bloc, with the goal that we’ll all win in the elections,” he said.

Asked by The Times of Israel where on the Yesh Atid list Tibon will be placed, Lapid declined to provide a specific number, but said Tibon will be in the party’s leadership, adding: “He didn’t come to be a wallflower.”

Elections are currently scheduled for October 26, but could come earlier if the government collapses or calls early elections.

Recent polls have found that neither the current coalition nor the anti-Netanyahu bloc has enough support to win a majority of seats in the Knesset if elections were to be held today.