On Monday, the 22nd Chief of Staff of the IDF, Major General Aviv Kochavi, is expected to end his post after four stormy and challenging years, in preparation for his retirement and the passing of the baton to Herzi Halevi, the Chief of Staff conducted a round of retirement interviews. In an interview with Reshet B, he commented Kochavi for the multitude of security issues on the agenda.
The internal disputes in the shadow of the new government: “We receive orders only from the Minister of Defense”
In the shadow of the division of roles in the Ministry of Defense, Kochavi says: “Everything related to the structure of the political echelon, I leave it to Levi, it is not my business to deal with it. What I do need to deal with is to make sure two things – that the functional capacity of the IDF is maintained in a good and efficient manner.” We cannot function when there are two ministers who give orders to the army. We receive orders only from the Minister of Defense and I estimate that this situation will remain so.”
Regarding the issue of the chief military rabbi, who was reported to be appointed by an external committee, Kochavi said: “Whoever appoints officers in the IDF is the Chief of Staff according to the army orders signed by the Minister of Defense, with the exception of the coordinator of government operations in the territories, which is an appointment by the Minister of Defense. The principle This one must be preserved. I said this to everyone who needs it. It is forbidden under any circumstances to have an appointment that is not by the Chief of Staff. Such an appointment will be perceived as an appointment for extraneous considerations, the man will lose his authority and credibility and he will be perceived as an outsider within the body of an army, which is all based on trust in the purity of decision-making, in the matter-of-factness of decision-making.”
The Iranian nuclear: “They train much more for this type of attack”
In relation to the nuclear issue, Kozhat radiates great confidence. “We have been dealing with accelerating the readiness to attack the nuclear facilities in Iran in recent years, and not only for an attack on the nuclear facilities, but an attack on many other types of targets. We have improved the intelligence and the scope of the targets. We have equipped ourselves and continue to equip ourselves with dedicated weapons and in the quantities suitable for this operation. We train much more on an attack Of this type. We recently completed two exercises that almost fully simulate the distance of travel and the attack, and we established the Iran wing to coordinate this activity.”
Iranian army photo: shutterstock
He continued: “We received tasks from the political echelon. As soon as the political echelon decides to activate them, the IDF will know how to carry out the task well. It is very difficult to assess whether it will be necessary to launch an attack on Iran. This moment is related to what will be the state of the project, what will be the state of uranium enrichment, what will be the amount of centrifuges they have. The IDF knows how to operate in all sectors at the same time. It prioritizes one or two sectors as a high priority and it’s always a question of what tasks are in each sector. The IDF knows how to handle more than one sector at the same time and that’s how it will be.”
His attitude to the recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox public: “We would be happy to welcome them into our ranks”
In response to the coalition agreements that seek to regulate in law the exemption for the ultra-Orthodox public, the Chief of Staff says: “Every soldier in the IDF who serves in mandatory service or longer service than that would like to know that there is equality in service to the state. We will be happy to welcome ultra-orthedim into our ranks. Already today we have built special and adapted routes for the ultra-orthed in the IDF They do a very good job. We manage to maintain their lifestyles in a dignified way, and I want to say more than that – we need additional personnel in many places.”
The weakness of the Palestinian Authority: “They are absent from central cities like Nablus and Jenin”
“The ones who changed the pattern of their activities and their behavior in Judea and Samaria are the Palestinians, not us,” emphasizes Kochvi. “From the moment the wave of terrorism began, which is partly due to the weakness of the Palestinian Authority and the very partial functioning of the mechanisms with an emphasis on the Nablus and Jenin region, we had to go in and thwart terrorism.”
IDF activity in Nablus Photo: IDF spokesman
“In fact, the security mechanisms operate effectively in some cities, on the other hand – they are absent from central cities like Nablus and Jenin, and we need to go in there and thwart terrorism. The situation that existed before the current wave of terrorism was that the mechanisms were operating reasonably well, but if there is no activity of the mechanisms, the meaning It is that the IDF will have to be in these places.”
My stars, would you like to join politics?
At the end, Kochavi was asked about his attitude to joining national politics, like many of his predecessors. He replied: “If and when the moment comes, I’ll have to think and consider. I’m not thinking about it at all right now. When the moment comes I’ll think and don’t conclude anything from what I said.”
(Aviv Kochavi eulogizes his father)