BG Glassberg graduated from the Ben-Gurion University Medical School in 1996 (with honors) and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the Israel Defense Forces in 1997.
He was appointed as a medical officer of a Special Forces Unit, where he went on to serve as the senior medical officer until 2001. He also went on to serve as a flight surgeon and a medical commander in the Israeli Air Force. BG Glassberg was later appointed to be the chief medical officer of a Paratroopers Division and served as the division surgeon during the second Lebanon war in 2006.
Between the years 2010-2014, BG Glassberg served as Head of the Trauma & Combat Medicine Branch, including during operations “Cast Lead” and “Protective Edge” in Gaza. BG Glassberg helped to conceptualize and lead the implementation of the IDF’s 10-year Strategic Force Generation plan, focusing on the elimination of preventable death. This plan is known as “My Brother’s Keeper”.
BG Glassberg is board-certified as both a general surgeon and a specialist in Healthcare Management. He served as the Israeli Defense Forces Liaison to the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) and as a member of the board of the Israeli Trauma Association. He was also an active member of the steering committee of the Trauma, Homeostasis and Oxygenation Research Network (THOR, an international collaboration aimed at promoting and improving Damage Control Resuscitation in the pre-hospital settings and served at the Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO (COMEDS).
BG Glassberg is a Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee (Bar-Ilan University) and a winner of the “best teacher” award for the year 2020. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, USA (USUHS).
BG Glassberg is an expert in pre-hospital trauma care and military medicine and an active researcher who published over 125 articles in leading journals.
BG Glassberg is a graduate of the Maoz leadership program (an Israeli government program aimed for the development of the next generation of national leadership, including executive management training at the Harvard business school, 2019).
He also holds two second degrees in management: Master of Health administration (2006) from the Ben-Gurion University and Master of Business Administration (2020) from the Tel Aviv University (with honors).BG Glassberg took a leading part in several humanitarian rescue missions performed by the IDF Medical Corps throughout the world. Including the Israeli humanitarian aid mission to the victims of the Syrian civil war from 2013 until 2017, in which he played a major role.
Since 1999, he serves as a flight surgeon in the Airborne Search & Rescue Unit (unit 669) and has participated in numerous operations and medical evacuations. He takes particular pride in the fact that he remains operational and continues to take call and fly with the unit.
Recent assignments:
2014- 2017: Chief Surgeon of the Northern Command.
2017- 2019: Head of the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Department and Commander of the IDF Medical Services.
2019- 2020: Head of the IDF Health Administrative Division.
In September 2020, BG Glassberg was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and serves as the IDF Surgeon General since. In 2022 his term as the SG was extended to include (an unprecedented) 4th year.
Since assuming the role of the IDF Surgeon General, Brigadier General Prof. Elon Glassberg has been responsible for leading the medical Corps trough several crises and challenges, including:
- Leading the IDF’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and providing support to the national healthcare system.
- Launching the IDF-MC mission to assist the casualties of the 2021 disaster in Equatorial Guinea and the IDF Field Hospital mission to provide aid in earthquake-stricken Turkey in 2023.
- Commanding the Medical Corps during Operation “Guardian of the Walls” (May 2021), Operation “Breaking Dawn” (August 2022), and the “Swords of Iron” War in October 2023 (until July 2024)
Married to Yael (a physician) + three (wonderful!) 3 children.
