Ashkenazi boots second officer

Col. Yisrael Danieli forced into early retirement for irregularities, including allowing non-military personnel to drive his IDF-issued car.

By YAAKOV KATZ
A day after ousting a star officer and the former Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen. Moshe 'Chico' Tamir from the IDF, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi showed the door to another senior officer who violated IDF ethical codes.
The officer, Col. Yisrael Danieli, former deputy commander of the 80th Division along the Egyptian border, was forced into early retirement on Monday for a number of irregularities, including allowing non-military personnel to drive his IDF-issued car.
Ashkenazi’s decision to remove Danieli came a day after he informed Tamir that he would not be appointed to another post in the IDF. In June, Tamir was demoted to the rank of colonel after he lied in a car accident report, stating that he was the driver of an ATV that was involved in an accident when it had actually been driven by his 14-year-old son. In an appeal, the demotion was overturned but his conviction remained in place.
On Monday, defense officials and IDF officers noted that Tamir was an exemplary officer whose absence would be felt by the IDF but that Ashkenazi’s decision sent an important message that unethical behavior would not be tolerated within military ranks.
Some officers questioned the timing of Ashkenazi’s decision, some threemonths after the demotion of Tamir was overturned by a military court.One possibility raised was that Ashkenazi’s decision to expel Tamir wasactually directed at another high-ranking officer, Brig.-Gen. ImadFaris, former commander of the Galilee Division, who had left the armyunder similar circumstances but had recently asked to return.