# Tarif Bader

Tarif Bader (Hebrew: טריף בדר, Arabic: طريف بدر; born August 5, 1967) is an Israeli-Druze physician and a retired Brigadier General who served in the Israel Defense Forces for more than 35 years in various positions, during his tenure, he was responsible for several Operations of Humanitarian Assistance and Rescue Missions of the IDF around the world. Prof. Bader held the position of the Surgeon General of the Medical Corps (Hebrew: חֵיל הָרְפוּאָה, Heil HaRfu'a) from August 2017 – September 2020.
Prof. Bader currently serves as the Director of Kaplan Medical Center.

## Biography

Bader was born in Hurfeish to an Israeli-Druze family. He attended Elementary School in Hurfeish and High School in Tarshiha. His father, Sheikh Salman Bader, served as an officer in the Israeli Border Police for many years and was injured during his service. After his discharge, Sheikh Bader served as senior Judge and the Director of the Druze Religious Courts.
Between 1985 and 1992, he studied Medicine as part of the Israeli Defense Forces' academic reserve program at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, completing his internship at Barzilai Medical Center. He specialized in pediatrics at the Galilee Medical Center. In 2001, he served as a research physician at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland, US, where he completed research in Pediatric Endocrinology. Bader holds a master's degree with honors in Health Systems Management from Ben-Gurion University and a master's degree in National Security from the University of Haifa and National Security College. Between 2009 and 2011, he was seconded from the IDF and served as Deputy Director of the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center while also completing an additional specialization in Medical Administration.
Bader graduated with honors from the Military Medical Officers' Course in 1993, served as a military doctor in the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade, the Medical Officer of the Baram Formation, a Medical Officer in a special unit, the Medical Officer of the 36th Division, and the Head of the Commanders' Branch at the Military Medical School.
From 2011 to 2014, he served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Israeli Northern Command. During his tenure, the IDF operated a field hospital on the Golan Heights to receive and treat casualties from the Syrian Civil War as part of Operation Good Neighbor, and set up a system for transferring the wounded for treatment in hospitals in northern Israel. In his next role, he was appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
Bader is an Associate Clinical Professor and Senior Lecturer at the Hebrew University, as part of the "Tzameret" track for training medical cadets.
Badar participated in several IDF medical aid missions, was part of the medical advance team to Thailand after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2004, served as the head of the pediatric department at the field hospital established in Port-au-Prince following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, commanded the operation to treat wounded Syrians from 2013 to 2014, and led the medical delegation and field hospital set up in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake. In March 2016, he commanded the operation to repatriate injured Israelis from Turkey.
In February 2016, he embarked on a public relations tour in the United States on behalf of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit and the OSS organization.
In July 2016, it was decided to appoint him as the next Chief Medical Officer. On July 16, 2017, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, and on August 17, he assumed his role as Chief Medical Officer. In March 2019, he delivered a speech as an official representative of the State of Israel at the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference at the UN General Assembly in New York (thus becoming the first Israeli officer to speak from this platform). During his tenure, he led the IDF's medical response in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel.
On July 8, 2020, he was appointed by the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Professor Hezi Levy, to be a member of a professional advisory committee for eradicating and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Israeli Arab sector. In the appointment letter, Professor Levy noted that the committee should advise and propose solutions based on the data and the spread map of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arab society in Israel, and prepare position papers and an action plan to work with the Arab population in the following areas: public information, breaking the chain of infection, specific needs of Arab society concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, and other relevant topics as they arise.
On September 9, 2020, he completed his role and service in the IDF and was succeeded by Brigadier General Professor Alon Glazberg.
In October 2020, he was appointed head of the Ministry of Health's winter preparedness directorate.
In February 2021, he was appointed by the board of Clalit Health Services as the director of Kaplan Medical Center.
In May 2021, he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, United States, in recognition of his extensive and exceptional work in humanitarian aid and for being a role model for future physicians.
In June 2021, he was promoted to the rank of Clinical Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.