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Last update - 00:49 11/07/2009
Exposed: The bitter row over Barak's pick for deputy IDF chief
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: IDF, Israel News, Barak 

The lack of agreement between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, on the question of whom to appoint as deputy chief of staff brought the pair to decide on a compromise: Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz. The officer, who until recently was considered a relative long shot for the post, will be asked to return from Washington, where he has been serving as the IDF attache for the last two years, in order to accept the appointment.

Ashkenazi has requested over the past few months to appoint the GOC Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, as his deputy. Barak, however, preferred the GOC Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant, for the post for two reasons: Gallant lacks experience in senior positions of command, and, as such, his appointment to the senior post would grant the army with three realistic candidates (Gallant himself, as well as Gantz and Eizenkot) to succeed Ashkenazi, whose four years as chief of staff will end in February 2011.

But after a veto was imposed by one, and an ultimatum by the other, the spat between Barak and Ashkenazi became further complicated. The chief of staff informed the minister that he was not willing to accept Gallant as his deputy, in light of his troubled relations with the officer. Gallant, for his part, announced that he would quit the army if was not appointed to the post.
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The row worsened when news of it was leaked to the media. Barak, upon his return a week ago from one of his many trips abroad as Israel's acting foreign minister, encountered newspaper reports on an upcoming decision and on the "battle" between his own candidate and that of Ashkenazi. The natural consequence of these reports was a further delay of the decision - Barak could not allow himself to appear in the media as someone who buckled under Ashkenazi's pressure and agreed to give up on his candidate. Meanwhile, tensions flared between Barak and Ashkenazi, and the IDF and the media voiced harsher criticism over the delay.

Since then, a number of alternatives have been examined. Ashkenazi considered a complete "freeze" of the situation, whereby the incumbent deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, would be asked to stay on for another year and a half. But Harel opposed the move, and Barak was also apparently not enamored with the idea. In the meantime, Eizenkot said that as far as he was concerned, it was not necessary to appoint him to the position. The northern front is complex and challenging enough to justify him remaining in his current post for a fourth year, he told his commanders.

Under these circumstances, Gantz was decided upon. Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, who has not hidden his desire to end his term as director of Military Intelligence, has agreed to keep the post for a further year to save Barak and Ashkenazi from more difficult decision-making.

Gantz's entry to the office of the deputy chief of staff is not expected to meet with any difficulties. He is an experienced major general, a member of the general staff for eight years who has held a long series of positions, including corps commander, GOC Northern Command and the head of ground forces. Former chiefs of staff Shaul Mofaz and Moshe Ya'alon (who, like Gantz, started off in the Paratroopers' Brigade) both backed the decision.

Nevertheless, there has been a certain compromise from Ashkenazi's point of view. Not only has Gantz's appointment foiled that of Eizenkot, which would have greatly aided his future passage to the chief of staff's office, but also Ashkenazi has been deprived of the possibility of making a large round of appointments that would have shaped the general staff for the coming years. With Yadlin, Eizenkot and also perhaps Gallant in the same positions, the chief of staff will only get to appoint a few new major generals. The first one expected to receive the rank is Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who will soon complete a successful term as head of the IDF operations division.

The key question now is over how Gallant will behave. Over recent months, he has told many people of his intention to leave the military if he is not appointed as deputy chief of staff. His departure is likely to be noisy. The GOC Southern Command, who was in charge of Operation Cast Lead, Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza at the beginning of the year, has grown quite embittered toward the conduct of his ranking officers. If he decides to open his mouth, a number of senior officials in the defense establishment will need to deploy bombardment countermeasures.

Gallant, of course, is pondering whether he should come out gunning right now, or whether he should heed former prime minister Ariel Sharon's old advice to young politicians: Always stay on the wheel. The officer, who served for three years as Sharon's military secretary, is well aware of the reasons for this advice.

Everything is open in IDF appointments. A year and a half is more than enough time for reversals, both political and military. Whoever stays within the establishment, in any kind of position, is still likely to find himself on the verge of a promotion that now appears an unreasonable possibility.

Related articles:
  • Benny Gantz named deputy IDF chief amid Ashkenazi-Barak row
  • Barak, Ashkenazi discuss next deputy IDF chief of staff
  • Barak-Ashkenazi clash postpones IDF appointments
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