Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi has his hands full but first needs to ensure that his officers abide by the values and principles that the IDF has always presumed to stand for.
By JPOST EDITORIALIDF soldiers respond to a stabbing attack near the Cave of the Patriarchs, January 2020.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
On Thursday, a military committee led by a former major general submitted its findings to Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi identifying egregious failures in the way ultra-Orthodox recruits have been counted in recent years.Following the investigation, the head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate Maj.-Gen. Moti Almoz took responsibility for the failures and mistakes, and received a formal reprimand from Kochavi, leading to speculation that his career will soon be coming to an end.According to the investigation, while the numbers might not have been intentionally skewed, they were mistakenly accounted due to gross negligence by IDF commanders in the Manpower Directorate. It found that the military never reached the targets for ultra-Orthodox enlistment that it had set for itself between 2014 and 2018, and that the numbers had actually not increased notwithstanding military reports to the contrary.In 2011, for example, the IDF reported that 1,200 haredi men were drafted. In fact, only 600 enlisted. Six years later, in 2017, the military stated that 3,070 haredi men were drafted. In fact, only 1,374 enlisted. While the other 1,696 did not meet the law’s definition of ultra-Orthodox, they were included anyways.“The data was compiled by professional bodies in the Manpower Directorate by an expanded interpretation which consciously, deliberately and systemically exceeded the law,” read the report, adding that there were also miscalculations in the numbers which “were a result of serious professional negligence.”Publication of the investigative committee’s findings came just a day after the IDF Comptroller revealed an increase in violence and use of excessive force by commanders against soldiers.“Over the past year, the alarming trend of commanders using excessive force toward soldiers has intensified to the point of physical violence,” read the report. “These are aggressive acts that have no place in Israeli society at all, and certainly not in the IDF.”The Comptroller’s report also revealed a number of complaints from soldiers from minority groups, notably Ethiopians, whose commanders spoke to them in a racist manner.In one case, an Ethiopian soldier filed a complaint against a noncommissioned officer in her unit who, during a conversation in the dining room of the base, said: “You are not Jews. You are Gentiles. You are worse off than Arabs.”In another instance, an Ethiopian soldier filed a complaint after his platoon commander had said that he “does not see Ethiopians at night, because they are black.”
This all followed the flooding last month of the Hatzor Air Force Base, which was hidden from the public by the military censor.Some two meters of water accumulated in underground aircraft hangers, causing damage to eight F-16s. Five of the planes sustained minor damage and three sustained significant damage. All in all, the damages are estimated to reach NIS 30 million.Following the flooding, the Hatzor Base commander stepped down from his post and was reassigned to an overseas military attaché posting.Together these incidents reveal something wrong that is happening today in the IDF, a military that is based on mandatory conscription. The IDF’s ethos is of a people’s army. Parents send their sons and daughters to serve, and commanders are meant to ensure both Israel’s national security and the well-being of those drafted.As Israel’s founding prime minister David Ben-Gurion famously said: “May every Jewish mother know that she has put her son under the care of commanders who are up to the task.”Based on the recent confluence of events, it’s unclear if Ben-Gurion’s quote is still relevant for Israeli mothers. In one case, Air Force officers are covering up mishaps, in another case they are misreporting the number of haredi soldiers who are serving in the IDF, and in another, commanders are violent to their subordinates or cursing soldiers of Ethiopian descent.Aviv Kochavi has his hands full. He has to prepare the military for a future war with Hezbollah, Hamas and a possible operation, one day, against Iran. First and foremost though, he needs to ensure that his officers abide by the values and principles that the IDF has always presumed to stand for – honesty, integrity and a high moral standard.
