Ashkenazi boots second officer

By YAAKOV KATZ
A day after ousting a star officer and former Gaza Division commanderBrig.-Gen. Moshe 'Chico' Tamir from the IDF, Chief of General StaffLt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi showed the door to another senior officer whoviolated 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 ofirregularities, including allowing non-military personnel to drive hisIDF-issued car.
Ashkenazi’s decision to remove Danieli came aday after he informed Tamir that he would not be appointed to anotherpost in the IDF. In June, Tamir was demoted to the rank of colonelafter he lied in a car accident report, stating that he was the driverof an ATV that was involved in an accident when it had actually beendriven by his 14-year-old son. In an appeal, the demotion wasoverturned but his conviction remained in place.
On Monday, defense officials and IDF officers noted that Tamir was anexemplary officer whose absence would be felt by the IDF but thatAshkenazi’s decision sent an important message that unethical behaviorwould not be tolerated within military ranks.
Some officersquestioned the timing of Ashkenazi’s decision, some three months afterthe demotion of Tamir was overturned by a military court. Onepossibility 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.