In the shadow of the apparent intention to extend the cooling-off period for the Chiefs of Staff and the criticism expressed by Smotrich and Ben Gvir against Chief of Staff Kochavi, outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz was interviewed this evening (Tuesday) by News 12, and revealed that he and Lapid approved Kochavi’s conversation with Netanyahu. He stated that “I respect the result of the elections, but I am very afraid and warn of the direction we are going in, which is extreme, and will also be dangerous for security.”
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“Ultimately, this is an appeal to a designated prime minister,” he noted and added: “I am not a party to the conversation and do not know what was going on in it, since I know the army and the security system very well, I see very well the damage done by the dismantling of the security system, even at the level of the Minister of Defense and the Minister of National Security who operates the forces in the Yosh”.
He expressed opposition to the initiative to extend the cooling-off period of senior military officers after their release: “I think that former chiefs of staff and generals are senior people in the public system, who can contribute themselves to the political system, that’s no harm. They have no less skills than anyone else.”
“The Chief of Staff did his duty”
Major General Nitzan Alon, spoke tonight with Ben Caspit and Aryeh Eldad on their program on 103FM, and commented on Kochavi’s appeal to Netanyahu: “I think the Chief of Staff did his duty in a correct and proper way, and received the approval of the Minister of Defense. It is true that he is the one who initiated the conversation, but I don’t think there is any connection to politics.”
He carefully opposed the possible resignation of Kochavi or his successor, Herzi Halevi: “I think that the Chief of Staff, both the current one and the next Chief of Staff, have many challenges in the security aspects. First of all, of course, externally, but I would be happy if the political echelon did not make it difficult for him , but helps him meet the challenges.”
“There are enough security challenges, and in the last six months we have seen an escalation in Palestinian terrorism. The IDF is concentrating efforts and investing more resources, therefore, to say that it is possible to improvise and manage is a lack of professionalism and irresponsibility,” he noted and added: “We must act in an optimal way and allow the IDF to concentrate Under it are all the forces that are operating. Military forces are operating, but there are also other ways, security coordination of economic and civil dimensions. All these things should be synchronized, and it should not be scattered and create cumbersome decision-making processes, but the opposite.”
He expressed strong opposition to the division of the IDF’s powers to other parties that are not the Minister of Defense or the Chief of Staff: “The Minister of Defense is the one who makes frequent situational assessments on this, and when necessary things go up to the cabinet. The political level, by definition, makes decisions when necessary regarding the general policy, but there are Let the Chief of Staff, and in this case the General of the Central Command exercise full responsibility, otherwise the security situation will deteriorate.”
He further added that “I think the situation today is seven times as difficult as I or my predecessors, other commanders in command, have experienced. There is really some trolling here and a preference for political conjunctures over the proper and efficient functioning of the IDF – first of all in the security mission, and in other things as well. If the government wants to decide on a new policy, let it decide. Trying to create chaos through the back door – this is certainly not a method for good governance, and I hope that is not where we are going. At the moment, the actual reality shows that this is the direction.”