In a highly unusual move, Army Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi spoke with Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu and expressed his reservations about the changes demanded by the coalition partners in the Israel Defense Forces and the security establishment.
Kochavi was referring to, among other things, the subordination of the Israeli Civil Administration and the Office of the Coordinator of Government Operations in Judea and Samaria being handed to the head of “Religious Zionism”, Bezalel Samtorich, who will serve as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defense. Kochavi also spoke of the cancellation of the Chief of Staff's authority to appoint the chief military rabbi.
'In such a case, there's no time to wait and he has to understand whether something is going to be changed' @eitan_dangot breaks down the importance of the recent rare phone call from IDF Chief Aviv Kochavi to incoming Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu#TheRundown pic.twitter.com/7lUWTxqy8b
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) December 26, 2022
The country's highest-ranking officer asked Netanyahu to consider allowing the IDF to provide its professional position before any decision or legislation is enacted. In addition, Kochavi expressed to Netanyahu his deep concern about the recent harassment of senior IDF officials by activists in the Netanyahu bloc, in a way he says hurts the IDF and its soldiers.
The IDF spokesman said this evening on behalf of the Chief of Staff that in the conversation "it was agreed that decisions related to the IDF will be made after the military presents the consequences and meanings arising from these decisions." However, when asked about the call, Netanyahu's office announced that they would not comment on his conversations with senior security officials, thus not affirming that an agreement had been reached.
In his remarks about the "distractions" among IDF officials, Kochavi referred, among other things, to the fierce attack last week against IDF spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav, whom the chairman of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, accused of turning his unit into a "left-wing extremist party."
IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi to Netanyahu: ״The changes that were agreed upon break the chain of command and harm the sovereignty of the Major General of the Center Command, and the responsibility of the IDF over the territories of Judea and Samaria״ @POTUS @JoeBiden @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/73TV6p9mZu
— קומי ישראל 🇮🇱🏳️🌈 (@kumiiisrael) December 26, 2022
This statement has already led to sharp condemnation from Kochavi: "Any attempt to link the IDF spokesperson to political activity is part of an ugly campaign that must stop immediately and has no place - certainly not on behalf of elected officials," said the Chief of Staff, who will retire next month.
According to Religious Zionism, their reasoning for the appointment of the IDFs chief rabbi is a "creeping gnawing" on the status quo that causes a violation of religious soldiers' rights, preventing them from fulfilling tasks while observing their beliefs. In their view, the chief rabbi of the IDF is supposed to be the gatekeeper on 'Halacha' (Talmudic Jewish law) issues, and a significant factor in shaping the Jewish identity of the soldiers.
Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will chair the committee that will select the next Israel Defense Forces’ chief rabbi, as part of a coalition agreement between Likud and the Religious Zionism Party. https://t.co/W4yTs7x3p2
— Algemeiner (@Algemeiner) December 27, 2022
The party also criticized the fact that since 2000, only rabbis at the rank of Brigadier General, not General, have been appointed to the position. In their opinion, this is a deliberate attack on the part of the country's leaders and the commanders of the IDF, when the goal is to reduce the powers of the military rabbi and appoint a "yes-man" to the position. Brigadier General is the lowest rank in the General class in the Israel Defense Forces.
Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday morning dismissed Kochavi’s call to Netanyahu, claiming the Chief of Staff is simply attempting to enter the political arena as his military days come to an end.
