Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yom Tov Samia, PhD was born in Pardesiya to parents who made aliya from Libya, grew up in Netanya, and now lives in Tel Aviv. He served in the IDF for 28 years, and in his final post before retiring in 2001 headed the Southern Command. He continues to serve in the reserves as Deputy Commander of the Southern Command. Since his release from the IDF, Samia has held a range of senior management and leadership positions in consulting, energy and real estate.

Samia holds a PhD in sociology and political science from Haifa University and won the Tshetshik Prize for Israel's Security for his study on "The Organizational Climate of the IDF's Field Units." He lectures in academia and other forums and has authored three non-fiction books.

Yom Tov has also served in numerous public and volunteer roles, and is an active board member at BGU since 1990.

Israeli Friends of BGU

Dr. Yom Tov Samia, Major General (res.), President
yomtov@ysa mgroup.com

Yamit Shannon-Mizrahi
Director, Israeli Friends of BGU & Partnership Development
Yamitshm@bgu.ac.il

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
P.O. Box 653
Beer-Sheva 8410501 ​