Moshe "Kaplan" Kaplinsky (born January 20, 1957) is a retired Israel Defense Forces Aluf. He is the former CEO of Better Place, Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises, and Oil Refineries Ltd. He currently serves as the Chairman of the board of Oil Refineries Ltd. In the past, he served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Commander of Central Command, Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Commander of Fire Formation.

Life

Moshe Kaplinsky was born, raised, and educated in the settlement of Gedera. He currently lives in Tel Aviv. He is the son of Leah and Baruch, a member of the Haganah who assisted the Aliyah Bet ship "Shabtai Luzinski" and was deported to the Cyprus internment camps. He is married to Pnina and has two sons. His brother is Colonel (Res.) Razi Kaplinsky, who last served as deputy commander of Edom Formation. Kaplinsky holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration from Bar-Ilan University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Tel Aviv University (with honors). He is a graduate of the IDF Command and Staff College and the advanced infantry officers' course of the United States Army.

Military Service

In 1976, Kaplinsky was drafted into the IDF and chose to serve in the Golani Brigade. In Golani, he completed his training as an infantry fighter, a platoon commander course in infantry, and an officer training course. During Operation Litani, he fought as a platoon commander in Battalion 17 of the platoon commander's course. He later served as a battalion operations officer, a company commander, and the operations officer of the Golani Brigade. In 1981, he was appointed operations officer in the Sayeret Matkal unit. In 1982, he became the commander of Golani Reconnaissance Battalion with the rank of major. During the First Lebanon War, Kaplinsky was injured in the Battle of the Beaufort, where his predecessor, Guni Harnik, and five other soldiers were killed. Three months later, he recovered from his injuries, returned to command the reconnaissance unit, and led it during the fighting in the Beirut sector. In 1985, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed commander of 13th Battalion (Gideon Battalion) in the Golani Brigade, leading it in the South Lebanon conflict. In 1987, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Golani Brigade. In 1990, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and appointed commander of the Hermon Brigade (810), and a year later, he became commander of the Hiram Division, the eastern division on the northern border. In 1993, Kaplinsky became commander of the Golani Brigade. During his command, the Chief of General Staff, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Northern Command Commander Amiram Levin decided to establish a special unit to combat Hezbollah in Lebanon. At Kaplinsky's initiative, Unit Egoz was established within the Golani Brigade to support and mentor the new unit. In 1995, Kaplinsky initiated and commanded a raid conducted by the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion on Hezbollah forces in the village of Shakra. In 1997, Kaplinsky was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and was appointed commander of Fire Formation. In 1999, he was appointed commander of the Galilee Division (91st Territorial Division). He commanded the division during the IDF withdrawal from South Lebanon in May 2000. He was also in command during the 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid on Mount Dov in October of that year.

As a General in the IDF

In 2001, Kaplinsky was promoted to the rank of Aluf and appointed Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. Sharon held him in high regard. In August 2002, he became commander of Central Command, where his main task was to eliminate Palestinian terrorism during the aftermath of Operation Defensive Shield. Kaplinsky earned widespread respect during this period as the number of terrorist attacks dropped significantly. Beginning in 2003, the number of suicide bombings decreased, with the number of attacks decreasing sharply in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, Kaplinsky was appointed Deputy Chief of General Staff by Chief of General Staff Dan Halutz. On August 8, 2006, near the end of the 2006 Lebanon War, he was sent by Halutz to serve as his representative in Northern Command alongside Northern Command Commander Udi Adam. Following the resignation of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on January 17, 2007, Kaplinsky was considered one of the top candidates to succeed him. However, after it was reported that Defense Minister Peretz had chosen Gabi Ashkenazi as his candidate for the role, Kaplinsky withdrew his candidacy. On October 1, 2007, he completed his term as Deputy Chief of General Staff and took a study leave. He was succeeded by Aluf Dan Harel.

Post-Military career

In 2008, Kaplinsky was appointed CEO of Better Place Israel, a company involved in creating infrastructure for electric vehicles. The project failed and resulted in the loss of billions of shekels in investments. After the firing of founder and global CEO Shai Agassi, Kaplinsky announced his resignation on November 14, 2012. A lawsuit filed by the liquidators of the Better Place Group against Agassi and other executives, including Kaplinsky, seeking to hold them liable for the group's insolvency, was dismissed by the court, which found that the management's decisions did not exceed the limits of permissible "business judgment rule." However, in February 2022, this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court, and the case was sent back for further deliberation. In 2013, he became the CEO of Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises, a position he held for seven years until retiring at the end of 2019. In July 2019, Kaplinsky was appointed chairman of the Golani Brigade Association. In February 2020, while still serving as CEO of Nesher, he was appointed an external director on the board of Elbit Systems. He resigned from this position in June 2020. In April 2020, he was appointed a director on the board of Augwind Energy Tech Storage, and in June 2022, he was appointed chairman of the board. In February 2023, he announced his resignation from this position. In June 2020, Kaplinsky was appointed CEO of Oil Refineries Ltd. On August 13, 2021, he assumed the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, replacing outgoing chairman Ovadia Eli.