David Ben-Uziel

David Ben-Uziel
David Ben-Uziel
	Ben-Uziel in 1969
Native name	דוד בן-עוזיאל
Nickname(s)	Tarzan; General John;
Born	1935 (age 88–89); Haifa, Palestinian territories
Battles/wars	1948 Arab–Israeli War; Sinai War; Entebbe raid; Operation Egged; Operation Olive Leaves; Qibya massacre; First Sudanese Civil War; Operation Brothers;

David Ben-Uziel (Hebrew: דוד בן-עוזיאל; born in Haifa in 1935), nicknamed "Tarzan" and "General John," is a former Israeli member of the Mossad and a retired lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces. His military career began during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He served in various units and participated in significant operations, including the Entebbe raid. After his military service, he advised the Ethiopian army and later joined the Mossad in 1968.

In 1969, he led a Mossad mission to support South Sudanese rebels during the first Sudanese civil war. They created a makeshift runway in a forest to parachute essential supplies like medical equipment, vaccines, uniforms, and weapons from Kenya. His efforts contributed to the signing of the 1972 peace agreement, bringing autonomy to South Sudan. In 2011, South Sudan gained independence, and President Salva Kiir Mayardit appointed Ben-Uziel as South Sudan's representative in Israel.

Ben-Uziel was a photographer, and during the mission, he carried cameras primarily for documentation and information gathering. Some images were used in Mossad publications for the Anya-Nya without revealing Israeli involvement.

Ben-Uziel embarked on an expedition across China in 2005 to retrace the Long March route. This journey covered over 24,000 kilometres (15,000 mi), and he documented it with nearly 400 photographs, leading to a photo exhibition in Tel Aviv in 2022.