General quits after lying about accident

Imad Faris caught lying like 'Chico' Tamir about who drove the car.

By YAAKOV KATZ
imad faris 248.88 (photo credit: Courtesy of IDF)
imad faris 248.88
(photo credit: Courtesy of IDF)
Brig.-Gen. Imad Faris resigned from the IDF on Monday after admitting to lying in a car accident report. Faris, one of the army's highest-ranking Druse officers, was commander of the Galilee Division, which is deployed along the border with Lebanon, for the past two years. His term ended Sunday. Previously, Faris served as commander of the Givati Brigade and of Division 80, which is stationed along the Egyptian border. The car accident occurred on July 28, when Faris's wife was driving his IDF-issued car and was involved in an accident. No one was injured. When Faris informed the rental company of the accident, he wrote in the report that he had been in the car at the time. On Saturday night, after the IDF learned of the accident, Faris spoke with OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and told him he had been in the car during the accident. Faris said the same thing to Eizenkot's deputy, Brig.-Gen. Alon Friedman. On Sunday, though, following the ceremony at Northern Command headquarters outside Safed in which he was replaced by Brig.-Gen. Yoel Strick, Faris approached Eizenkot and admitted to having lied to him the previous night. Faris told Eizenkot he "could not live" with the lie and asked to be dismissed from military service. Eizenkot and Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi obliged. Faris was to have been appointed the next head of the IDF's company and battalion commanders course. He is the second division commander to get into trouble for lying about vehicle accidents. In June, a military court demoted former Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen Moshe "Chico" Tamir to the rank of colonel for permitting his underage son to drive an IDF dune buggy and attempting to cover up a subsequent accident. Tamir came under investigation last year after he allowed his 14-year-old son to use the dune buggy during a social meeting of division officers and their families. The boy crashed into a civilian vehicle and caused damage to the car. Tamir then attempted to keep the case quiet and, like Faris, even claimed to have been the driver.