Eizenkot to be named IDF Chief of Staff

The current chief of staff, Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz, is due to step down in February.

By NOAM AMIR/MAARIV HASHAVUA
Deputy Chief of IDF Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot (photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Deputy Chief of IDF Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, deputy chief of the IDF’s General Staff, will be the the next chief of staff, a senior security source said on Friday.
The source told The Jerusalem Post's Hebrew sister publication Ma'ariv Hashavua that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Eizenkot on Friday morning to deliver the news. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon also spoke to Eizenkot on Friday, the source said.
Eizenkot will be the IDF's twenty-first chief of staff. Ya'alon is expected to announce the appointment on Saturday and on Sunday the government will vote on the decision.
The current chief of staff, Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz, is due to step down in February.
In recent weeks, Ya’alon interviewed Eizenkot for the position of chief of staff, as well as the only other contender for the post, Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh.
Naveh has not had an active military role since January 2013, when he completed a three-year term as deputy chief of staff.
The prime minister and the cabinet are involved in the selection process as well, but generally speaking, the defense minister gets his pick.
During his career, Eizenkot led the Golani Brigade, the Bashan Armored Division, the Judea and Samaria Division, the IDF’s Operations Branch and the Northern Command. In 1999, he became the military secretary of prime minister Ehud Barak.
Ya’alon has consulted with former chiefs of staffs and defense ministers during the election process, as well as the director-general of the Defense Ministry, Dan Harel.
Earlier this month, Attorney- General Yehuda Weinstein, following a request by Ya’alon, approved Eizenkot’s candidacy.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.