Former IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Rontzki announced on Saturday night that he would run in the Bayit Yehudi primaries.
Rontzki began his army career in 1969 as a navy seal in Shayet 13 switching over to a paratroopers/commando unit which he commanded in the Yom Kippur war.
He kept moving up in the ranks, switching over to the reserves, where he became chief of staff of the Samaria Territorial Brigade.
After the Yom Kippur War Rontzki became religious, and became one of the founders of the town of Itamar in the Shomron, as well as the Elon Moreh Hesder Yeshiva, which he headed as Rosh Yeshiva.
In 2006 he was appointed as Chief Rabbi of the IDF with the rank of Brigadier General.