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LONG READ-New IDF chief
Finally, the right man for the job. Just in time the way things are moving here:
"New IDF chief will bring 'basic values back to the IDF'
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Major General Gabi Ashkenazi will return to the IDF as its Chief of Staff, two years after retiring when he lost a previous contest for the job to Dan Halutz.
Ashkenazi was born in Moshav Hagor to a father who is a Holocaust survivor and a Syrian-born mother. He joined the Golani Brigade in 1972 and served as a soldier in the Yom Kippur War. In 1976 brigade commander Uri Saguy added him to the Golani force that participated in the Entebbe operation, but Ashkenazi did not take part in the battle at the airport.
In 1978 Ashkenazi served as deputy battalion commander in Golani, was wounded in the Litani Operation and left the army. Two years later he was asked to return and was appointed battalion commander. In the war in Lebanon he served as deputy brigade commander and in 1986 was appointed Golani commander. In 1990 Ashkenazi was appointed commander of a reserves division and in 1992
as commander of the Lebanon Liaison Unit.
In 1994 he was appointed head of operations in the General Staff and in 1996 he was promoted to major general and appointed aide to the Operations Division. In 1998 he was appointed GOC Northern Command, in which he was responsible for pulling IDF forces out of Lebanon, a move Ashkenazi criticized for not being carried out in agreement with Syria.
The report examining the abduction of the soldiers in October 2000 in Har Dov cleared Ashkenazi of blame and in 2002 he was appointed deputy chief of staff. During the intifada he was seen as the most moderate member of the General Staff. He objected to aggressive acts against the Palestinians and as director of the separation fence project he tried to persuade the authorities to build
the wall as close as possible to the Green Line and not infringe/encroach on the Palestinians' life.
In an interview for the book "The Seventh War," Ashkenazi told writers Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff that the moral damage done to IDF soldiers due to the fighting in the territories worried and alarmed him. "My greatest fear is
the loss of humanity because of the ongoing warfare," he said.
It is possible that his opinions made prime minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz choose his rival Halutz as chief of staff instead of him. Shortly after the announcement of Halutz's appointment Ashkenazi said he was
leaving the army.
After that his name was mentioned several times in connection with senior positions. Last July Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed him director general of the Defense Ministry.
"Gabi Ashkenazi will bring basic values back to the IDF. He's a jolly good soldier, who worked his way up," said Major General (Res.) Uri Saguy, Ashkenazi's former commander, yesterday. Ashkenazi has a BA in political
science and is a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government. He is married and father of two children.
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