Yisrael Galili (inventor)

Yisrael Galili (Hebrew: ישראל גלילי; born Yisrael Balashnikov;^[1] 23 October 1923 – 9 March 1995)^[2] was an Israeli weapons designer, best known for designing the Galil assault rifle. He also helped to create the Uzi submachine gun. He was known in the military by the nickname 'Father of the Rifle'.^{[citation needed]}

Yisrael Galili
ישראל גלילי
Galili holding a Mini Uzi, 1981
Born	Yisrael Balashnikov (1923-10-23)23 October 1923 Soviet Union
Died	9 March 1995(1995-03-09) (aged 71) Giv'atayim, Israel
Occupation	Weapons designer

Early life and career

Born Yisrael Balashnikov [sic] in the Soviet Union, Galili emigrated to British Mandatory Palestine at a young age. He volunteered to work with the Haganah in weapons manufacture. He settled in the newly-established state of Israel, changing his surname to Galili. He joined Israel Military Industries in 1948. During the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) captured many AK-47 assault rifles from the Egyptian soldiers which proved more reliable and useful in the arid conditions against the FN FAL. Inspired by the AK-platform, the IDF assessed it thoroughly and began the process of designing a new automatic rifle. The task was assigned to two groups: one led by Uziel Gal, the designer of the Uzi submachine gun, and the other led by Galili. Drawing additional inspiration from the Finnish RK 62 and using it's receivers for the Galil's first prototypes^[3] (itself an improved version of Polish AK-47's), Galili, together with Yakov Lior, invented the Galil assault rifle, named after its inventor. Tests were conducted from the end of the 1960s to the early 1970s led to Galili's rifle emerging as the winner, as a result Galil was adopted by the military. The Galil assault rifle heavily derives most of the features from Kalashnikov AK-47. In 1973, he received the Israel Defense Prize for this achievement.

Death

Galili died of a heart attack on 19 March 1995 in Israel.^[2]

See also

• R4 assault rifle