Officers say action against commander is 'undeserved'

Officers in the Southern Command agreed yesterday that the commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg, "did not deserve" the disciplinary action taken against him for his management of the fighting during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last year. The officers praised the calm and assured way Eisenberg ran all stages of the operation.

"The operation succeeded due to the combination of the bold plans of Chico [Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir, Eisenberg's predecessor as Gaza Division commander] and the calm management of Eyal," said one officer.

A senior office said that originally only Givati Brigade commander Col. Ilan Malka was supposed to face disciplinary action on exceeding authority in the use of artillery in the battle at Tel al-Hawa, but Eisenberg was determined to be tried at the side of his subordinate during the operation.

IDF sources said yesterday that the case is not expected to delay Eisenberg's advancement in the army. He has already survived far more serious criticism for his role in the Second Lebanon War, they said.

Eisenberg, 47, has spent his entire military career at the center of the action in Lebanon and the territories. He spent his first years in Shaldag, the elite Air Force commando unit, and from there he went on to command the Givati Brigade's reconnaissance unit and the Shaked Battalion.

wHe later returned to Shaldag as its commander, before serving as a brigade commander in Lebanon until the IDF's withdrawal in 2000. Eisenberg then commanded an elite reserve paratroop brigade, then the Givati Brigade and later reserve and regular divisions.

He received harsh criticism for his role in the Second Lebanon War, as did all the other division commanders, but he alone managed to rehabilitate his career.

Some say it was due to his hard work at rehabilitating the division after the war, and how he commanded the Gaza Division; but others say it was due to the close relations between Eisenberg and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who was mentored by Eisenberg's uncle, Maj. Gen. (res.) Uri Saguy.

In any case, it was hard to find anyone in the IDF this week who thought the disciplinary action against Eisenberg would be an obstacle to his advancement to the General Staff in the next few years.