Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday asked the Israel Defense Forces deputy chief of staff, Moshe Kaplinsky, to stay on in the army following the anticipated appointment of Major General (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi as chief of staff.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz will recommend to the cabinet that it approve Ashkenazi for the post of Israel's 19th chief of staff. Ashkenazi is currently serving as director general of the Defense Ministry.

Peretz is expected to present Ashkenazi as his choice when he meets with Olmert on Monday night. The prime minister is expected to support Ashkenazi's appointment.

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Associates of the prime minister have said that the majority of officials with whom Olmert has consulted recommended that Ashkenazi be appointed.

Olmert was also advised to persuade Kaplinsky not to leave the IDF in order to contribute to the rebuilding of the armed forces.

It is still unclear whether Kaplinsky would stay on as deputy chief of staff.

Those close to Kaplinsky said last week that he intended to retire if he was not made IDF chief. In his letter to Peretz, however, Kaplinsky offered his experience and capabilities for as long as they were needed.

Muted criticism

Kaplinsky on Sunday night expressed muted criticism of Peretz's decision to rush the appointment of a new chief of staff, before the release of the Winograd Committee's interim report on its investigation into the conduct of the Lebanon war.

"The Winograd Committee was also set up to examine, among other things, my conduct during the war. The committee is still busy with its work and no one knows what its conclusions will be regarding my role, authority and influence on the war or the way I conducted myself during the war," Kaplinsky wrote in a letter to Peretz.

Kaplinsky, one of the three candidates for the post of chief of staff, announced in Sunday's letter to Peretz that he had decided to pull out from the race.

Kaplinsky cited his wish to put an end to the "media circus" surrounding the matter of the appointment.

Peretz arrived at the decision following a series of consultations he held on Sunday, and unless a last-minute change is made, he is expected to finalize the decision with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later during the week. The appointment is expected to be finalized in two weeks.

Late last week, Kaplinsky had concluded that his chances of receiving the appointment were few.

"I believe that I have the experience, the capability and the [moral] authority to carry out the function of the chief of staff in the best way possible... however, the IDF is a people's army... and therefore it is my view that the appointment of chief of staff must enjoy the widest possible consensus," he wrote.

"Since you decided, according to media reports, to appoint a chief of staff in the coming days and not wait for the full examination of the facts relevant to the war, I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to take on the role, at this time, and therefore request to withdraw my candidacy," Kaplinsky added.

Peretz began considering the appointment of Ashkenazi as the next chief of staff soon after the end of the war in Lebanon, last August. Last week, following the announcement of Dan Halutz that he had decided to resign from the post, Peretz began promoting the idea of Ashkenazi as his replacement.

The defense minister held a series of consultations that ended on Sunday with a meeting with Dan Meridor, who headed a committee examining Israel's security doctrine.

It was announced Sunday night from the defense minister's office that Peretz had reached a decision, and that he intended to inform the prime minister and also the other candidates for the position, Kaplinsky and Major General Benny Gantz.

Even though Peretz has still not announced his decision officially, it is clear that he has decided on Ashkenazi's appointment and that he has prepared his recommendation without consulting the prime minister. Olmert and Peretz are not likely to meet before Tuesday, at the earliest.

For his part, Olmert told Channel 1 News Sunday night that he had still not made up his mind who the next chief of staff would be. The premier also told the cabinet during its weekly meeting on Sunday that the selection process for a new chief of staff would be as quick as possible and undertaken in coordination with Defense Minister Peretz.

He added that since Wednesday, when Halutz's resignation became public, the defense minister had began a search for a replacement, in line with the Basic Law on the Army.

Olmert also commended the outgoing COS for his leadership, fighting spirit and excellence.

Most members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee agreed on Sunday that the new army head should not be an officer who was involved in the conduct of the second Lebanon war. In closed deliberations, the committee members did not name their choice for chief of staff.

All 13 MKs participating in the meeting did agree that it was of utmost urgency to make a new appointment, and that the candidate had to be one about whom there was consensus.