Air force, navy commanders to stay on for year under new chief of staff

The move will enable younger major generals to replace them in 2016.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
New IDF chief of staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot (L) and outgoing chief of staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz (R) salute during a handover ceremony in Tel Aviv (photo credit: REUTERS)
New IDF chief of staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot (L) and outgoing chief of staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz (R) salute during a handover ceremony in Tel Aviv
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The chiefs of the Israel Air Force and Israel Navy have extended their service in the IDF by a year, the military announced Wednesday, as part of a series of appointments carried out by the newly appointed chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot.
Both IAF chief Maj.-Gan. Amir Eshel and the commander of the navy, V.-Adm. Ram Rothberg, are to remain in their positions for a year, a move that will enable younger major-generals to replace them in 2016.
Eisenkot’s appointments, approved by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, include a new Southern Command head, Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, who will replace Maj.-Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman, who completes a two-year term in the post, and who was in command during the 50-day conflict with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza last summer.
Brig.-Gen. Amikam Nurkin will be promoted to the rank of major-general before taking up his new post as chief of air force headquarters, replacing Maj.-Gen. Nimrod Shefer, who served in the position for three years.
Eisenkot named Maj.-Gen. Tamir Heiman as the new commander of the IDF Military Colleges, replacing Maj.- Gen. Yossi Beiditz. Heiman will also serve simultaneously as commander of the Northern Corps, a military formation that is deployed during wartime.
As a result of the appointments, the General Staff has two fewer members.
Last year, IDF chief of staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz named a new Military Intelligence chief, appointing Maj.-Gen. Herzl Levi to the job.
Levi replaced Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who became OC Northern Command, replacing Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, who was appointed deputy chief of staff.