Last update - 00:00 17/11/2007
Retired IDF officer Hirsch: Career soldiers are underpaid
By Eitan Abarbanel, Haaretz Correspondent
Brigadier General (Reserves) Gal Hirsch, who commanded the Israel Defense Forces' Galilee Division during the Second Lebanon War, once again lashed out at army management on Friday during a real estate conference in Dead Sea development.
"I get irritated when I think of career soldiers who don't get the salaries they deserve," Hirsch said. "There is currently someone sleeping in the rain and getting wet to his socks, and we need to decide how to take care of him. These people should be more than compensated."
Earlier in the week, Hirsch charged IDF top brass had hidden behind their field commanders, then abandoned them and refused to take any responsibility for the army's failures in the Second Lebanon War.
In his first public comments about the war since his acrimonious discharge from the army last month, Hirsch, who commanded Division 91 during the fighting, also charged that parts of the IDF have become dangerously politicized, and that the war was never properly investigated, creating the risk that its failures will be repeated in future wars.
On Saturday, he again voiced his criticisms against the army, this time focusing on conditions offered to its career officers.
"It's inconceivable that a career company commander receive less money than a young person his age working as a civilian administrative manager," Hirsch said. He also said that reservists should be compensated for the financial burden of their service.
Hirsch currently works as the CEO of "Defensive Shield," which offers a variety of security and strategic services. The company is carrying out surveys for the government of Georgia.