Chief of Staff Hertzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Galant decided to appoint Brigadier General Shlomi Binder to the position of head of the IDF, replacing Major General Aharon Haliva, who announced his retirement from the IDF. It was also decided that General Avi Blot will be appointed commander of the Central Command instead of General Yehuda Fox, who also announced his retirement. In addition, Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss will receive the rank of Major General. The IDF spokeswoman said today (Thursday) that the appointments will take effect in the coming months and gradually.
There is no surprise in the appointments, but this is expected to provoke criticism. This is because Brigadier General Binder, who is admittedly well acquainted with the IDF’s Intelligence Division as a fighter in the General Staff patrol and who was the commander of the unit, including in Operation Tzuk Eitan, carries with him the stain of the failure of October 7 in the field of defense.
Also, Brigadier General Goldfuss was recently reprimanded by the Chief of Staff, after giving a critical speech against the political echelon. He is considered a high-quality and opinionated officer who enlisted in 1995 in the 13th Fleet, participated in the campaign in southern Lebanon and went to an officers’ course, after which he returned to the fleet as a crew commander. Among others, he was a Major General in Nahal, Deputy Commander of the 13th Fleet, Parachute Brigade in the Reserves and during the war, Commander of the 98th Division.
“At the end of a lengthy process, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and the Chief of the General Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, agreed on the promotion of commanders who distinguished themselves in combat in the field and at headquarters during the Iron Swords War, to positions in the General Staff Forum,” the IDF spokesperson said.
“The Minister of Defense approved the recommendation of the Chief of the General Staff for the following appointments: Lieutenant Colonel Avi Blot will be appointed to the position of Commander of the Central Command. The officer will be promoted to the rank of Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Shlomi Binder will be appointed to the position of Head of the Intelligence Division. The officer will be promoted to the rank of Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel Dan Goldfus will be promoted to the rank of Colonel. David Bar will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel Champion”.
Binder is considered a brave and high-quality commander who, during his command of the General Staff patrol, led the unit to a series of operations, which the IDF defined as “groundbreaking”. He is also relatively familiar with the IDF on a systemic level, partly due to his position as commander of the Golani Brigade. But today he serves as the head of the Operations Division in the IDF’s Operations Division, and has a significant part in the failure by virtue of his role and function.
In this context, it should be noted that the head of the Operations Division (OAD), Major General Oded Basiuk, bears responsibility for the failure and he is also supposed to finish his post. Public criticism, and especially political.
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