Yosi Silman

Yosi Silman was born in Israel on 25 October 1959. He graduated from Midrashiat Noam yeshiva high school (class 29). He later earned a bachelor's degree in logistics and economics from Bar-Ilan University and a master's degree in business administration from Ben-Gurion University.

He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in 1978 and was assigned to the Armoured Corps.

Silman trained as a tank fighter and tank commanders' course graduate, completed armour officers' school and commanded a tank platoon. On the eve of and during the 1982 Lebanon War he was operations officer of battalion Kakash (Battalion 196), including in the Kamat-Kakash battle, and during the war took over a company whose commander had been severely wounded. He later commanded a company in Brigade 500 and fought in Beirut.

After the war he commanded a tank battalion, led the Yiftach Formation (1994-1997), commanded Brigade 500 (1997-1999), served as Central Command operations officer, and commanded the Sinai Formation as a brigadier general (2001-2002). He left the IDF in 2003.

Civically he chaired an IDF housing directorate for the army's Negev relocation, headed Yesh Atid's field headquarters for the Nineteenth Knesset elections, and in May 2013 became director-general of the Ministry of Welfare under Meir Cohen until 2015. He was CEO of Holon municipality from March 2017 to January 2020, then from April 2021 CEO of the Pardes Hanna-Karkur local council.

Public reports of Silman's family life are limited. As welfare director-general in 2013 he supported cutting child allowances he argued some Haredi and Bedouin communities relied on instead of work, and he said Israel had hungry people and hungry children but not famine deaths with distended bellies of the kind seen in other countries. Those comments were widely reported and debated.

Yosi Silman died on 24 September 2026. He was 66. Hebrew Wikipedia and Israeli news outlets including ice.co.il and Srugim reported the death the following day. The Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, minister Haim Katz, director-general Yinon Aharoni and the workers' council issued a statement mourning a former director-general who had served citizens in the IDF and in public service.

Silman is remembered as an armour officer who translated military command into civilian administration: welfare ministry reforms under Meir Cohen, three years running Holon municipality, and later leadership of Pardes Hanna-Karkur. Officials who worked with him described an energetic public servant whose career spanned brigade command, social-service policy and local government.