Eisenkot: I was approached to be corona czar, but no one got back to me
The former IDF Chief of Staff tells ‘Yediot Aharonot’ that military officials who don't make decisions based on the 8 p.m. news would be the best candidate for the role.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMKOCHAVI (RIGHT) and predecessor Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot flank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the chief of staff switchover ceremony. (Amos Ben Gershom(photo credit: IDF)
As the death toll from the deadly coronavirus passed 400 over the weekend, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.(ret.) Gadi Eisenkot said he agreed to manage the country’s fight but decision-makers never got back to him.“A very serious group led by Tal Russo offered it to me. They asked me ‘if they offer it to you, will you accept it?” Eisenkot said in an interview with Yediot Aharonot. “I said that I was a soldier of the state for any mission. But they did not come back to me regarding the offer.”According to the report, Russo’s proposal to Eisenkot came from a group that includes former senior military officers, scientists and others. The proposal was based on the fact that managing the coronavirus crisis went beyond just healthcare but also included logistic, economic and social aspects.His recommendation was brought before the National Security Council and former Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov as early as March, as well as to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Bar Siman Tov has since been replaced by Prof. Chezy Levi.According to Eisenkot, the first wave “was handled in a reasonable manner, also in relation to other countries in the world.” With thousands confirmed to have the virus in recent weeks and the death toll rising, the former chief of staff said; “I do not know anyone who would be approached and not put everything else aside and enlist” in the fight.Saying that he would accept the offer should government officials ask him again, Eisenkot said “it’s not too late to build such an operation.”In mid-July, in an effort to better manage the growing crisis, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced that the government was going to appoint a “corona czar” who would be able to address the multi-dimensional crisis in an organized and systematic way.The individual leading the crisis would be subordinate to the prime minister, head a national emergency headquarters and coordinate all activity between ministries, with the Health Ministry being the authority on the medical side of the crisis.On Sunday Hebrew media reported that Prof. Gabriel Barabash, the former CEO of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, is expected to be appointed to the role. During the first wave, Barabash joined news reporters on Channel 12 on an almost nightly basis to explain the virus.But according to Eisenkot, the best choice to manage the crisis would be former military officers “who know how to strategize, read data and perform situational assessments. They know how to make decisions that are not conditioned by the 8 p.m. news but look a month or a year ahead and know how to point out trends.”Besides Eisenkot, there have been other military officers who have been named as candidates for the role, including Maj.-Gen. Amir Abulafia, current head of the IDF’s Planning Directorate, and Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Roni Numa, who managed the first wave of the crisis in the city of Bnei Brak and reportedly turned down the offer.“The assumption should be that there will be another, more serious wave, and another assumption that the virus will be with us at least until the end of 2021," Eisenkot said, adding that therefore, a “continuous and high-quality response is required."
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