Gen. Israel Tal, Israeli tank designer

JERUSALEM - Israel Tal, a decorated war hero and the creator of Israel's renowned "Merkava" tank, died in the Israeli town of Rehovot yesterday. He was 86.

Born in 1924, he held a series of important posts in the course of an illustrious military career, leaving the army as deputy chief of staff.

He is considered one of the best five armored commanders in history, alongside U.S. Gen. George S. Patton, Gen. Creighton Abrams, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Israeli Maj. Gen. Moshe Peled, according to the Armor Museum at Fort Knox, where he is commemorated.

His best-known accomplishment was heading the Israeli military committee in the mid-1970s that sought to design a battle tank that would wean the Jewish state off its dependence on foreign weapons.

Tal oversaw the design of the Merkava tank - Hebrew for "chariot" - which is widely seen as one of the best of its time. The tank was created to ensure the safety of its crew by placing the engine at the front, allowing crew and medics to enter and exit from behind, even under fire.

The tank was also developed for Israeli terrain, particularly specializing in long-range fire, according to the Armor Museum. The Merkava tank entered combat in the 1980s.

Tal's mastery of long-range tank-fire tactics are widely seen as key to the Israeli breakthrough of the Egyptian Suez Canal on the Sinai peninsula during the 1967 Mideast war, where he served as an armored division commander.

Tal became the commander of Israel's southern front during the surprise Egyptian and Syrian attack on the Jewish state in 1973 on its holiest day, Yom Kippur - the day of atonement.

Tal leaves behind his wife, Hagit, his daughter, Pnina, and his son, Yair.