TEL AVIV Ñ Israel's government has agreed to appoint a new chief of
staff amid the war against the Palestinians.
Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, 52, has been appointed
chief of staff. Ya'alon bested three other candidates, including the
favorite of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The appointment of Ya'alon was approved by Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer and confirmed by Sharon. Ben-Eliezer rejected a proposal to
extend the tenure of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz amid the
intensification of the war against the Palestinians and the threat of attack
from Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Before his announcement, Ben-Eliezer summoned all four candidates for
the post of military chief. They included National Security Adviser Uzi
Dayan, a former deputy chief of staff; former military intelligence chief
Maj. Gen. Amos Malka and current Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Dan Helutz.
Sharon was said to have favored Helutz for the post. But Ben-Eliezer
persuaded the prime minister that such an appointment would mark a drastic
change for the job of chief of staff, who has always come from the ground
forces.
"Defense Minister Ben Eliezer believes that all of the candidates for
the post of IDF chief-of-staff were good and deserving but chose Maj.
Gen.Ya'alon as the most appropriate candidate to lead the military and deal
with the IDF's current and expected missions and challenges," a Defense
Ministry statement said.
The appointment of the chief of staff appeared to be threatened by an
increasingly bitter rivalry between Ben-Eliezer and Sharon. On Wednesday,
Ben-Eliezer threatened to quit if the Cabinet overturned his decision to
withdrew Israeli troops from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Sharon was said to have told Ben-Eliezer that he could leave the
government and later the defense minister ordered troops to remain in the
city. But officials said Israeli troops are expected to begin their
withdrawal from Ramallah when U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni arrives in the
Middle East on late Thursday.
This, as Palestinian insurgents detonated a large bomb near an army
convoy in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Israeli military sources said three
people were killed and an Israeli tank was destroyed.
The appointment of the new chief of staff will be submitted to a
government-appointed panel for
approval. Ya'alon is scheduled to succeed Mofaz on July 9.
A Defense Ministry statement said Ben-Eliezer and Ya'alon will soon
decide on senior military appoinments. This will include the post of deputy
chief of staff. Gabi Ashkenazi, currently head of the military's Northern
Command, is regarded as the favorite to become deputy chief of staff.
