| Honorific Prefix: | Aluf |
| Yishai Beer | |
| Native Name: | he|ישי בר |
| Branch: | Israel Defense Forces |
| Serviceyears: | 1974–2008 |
| Rank: | Aluf |
| Unit: | Paratroopers Brigade |
| Commands: | President of the Israeli Military Court of Appeals |
| Battles: | Operation Entebbe Operation Litani |
Yishai Beer (he|ישי בר; born 1956) is a former general in the Israel Defense Forces, head of a reserve call-up, and former president of the Israeli Military Court of Appeals. He is a professor of law at Reichman University.
Yishai Beer was born in 1956 in Jerusalem, the youngest son of Professor Moshe Beer, a Holocaust survivor from Slovakia who later became the head of the Department of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University.[1] He completed his high school education at the Netiv Meir Yeshiva high school in Jerusalem (he was part of the "Class of Generals," a nickname for the class from which three major generals in the IDF emerged: Elazar Stern, Yair Naveh, and Yishai Beer, along with Brigadier General and Chief Military Rabbi Rafi Peretz).
He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in August 1974, volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade, and was assigned to the 890th Battalion. In the Paratroopers, he completed training as an infantry combat soldier and a non-commissioned officer infantry course, and later attended the IDF Officer Training School, which he completed with distinction. He returned to the Paratroopers as a platoon commander[2] in the 890th Battalion. In 1976, he participated in Operation Entebbe.[3] In 1978, he took part in Operation Litani as a company commander,[4] and in the same year, he was discharged from the IDF.
In 1983, he earned a bachelor's degree in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He interned with Justice Dov Levin at the Supreme Court of Israel and became a member of the Israel Bar Association in 1985. In 1986, he received a master's degree from the London School of Economics, and in 1990, he obtained a doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1992, he was appointed as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University, where he taught tax law. In 1994, he became a senior lecturer, and in 1999, he was promoted to associate professor. He retired from the Hebrew University in 2010. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University from 1990 to 1992 and at the School of Law at New York University from 2009 to 2010. From August 2010 to April 2012, he served as the dean of the Harry Radzyner School of Law at Reichman University.[5] Beer continues to be a faculty member at the school.[6]
Beer filled various roles as a reserve officer. Starting in 1979, he served as an officer in the Southern Command's Paratroopers Reserve Brigade, and fought as a company commander in the brigade during the 1982 Lebanon War. He later became a battalion commander, and in April 1995, he was appointed commander of the brigade, serving until March 2000.[7] In March 2000, he was appointed commander of the Edom Formation, with the rank of brigadier general, and in June 2001, he was also appointed commander of the Company and Battalion Commanders Course.
In May 2002, Beer returned to active duty and was appointed President of the Military Court of Appeals, with the rank of major general. From 2002 to 2004, he simultaneously commanded the Brigade Commanders Course. At a meeting of the General Staff Forum on July 11, 2006, shortly before the outbreak of the 2006 Lebanon War, Beer was one of the few generals who argued that the IDF was not training and maintaining its readiness adequately, and that this would be evident in the next war.[8] After the war, he led the team that reviewed recommendations for decorations and commendations for IDF soldiers.[9] In August 2007, he completed his role as President of the Military Court of Appeals after five years in the position. Concurrently with his role as President of the Military Court of Appeals, he continued his work as a professor of law at the Hebrew University.
He was appointed commander of the 479th Corps[10] and was responsible for advanced training and senior courses in the IDF. In 2009, he was discharged from active service but continued to serve in the reserves.[11]
In June 2011, Beer was appointed by Chief of Staff Benny Gantz to head a committee to review the wording of the Yizkor prayer for fallen IDF soldiers.[12] In August 2011, the committee recommended changing the IDF order to open the prayer with the national declaration: "The people of Israel shall remember its sons and daughters." Chief of Staff Gantz adopted the committee's recommendation.[13] In an interview with Haaretz, Beer expressed his reservations about attacking Iran and the involvement of rabbis in the IDF.[14]
Beer retired from reserve service in January 2012.
Recent publications include: