Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interviewing two candidates to be the next IDF chief on Thursday night and one on Friday, following Defense Minister Israel Katz, who interviewed them on Sunday.
There are times when the prime minister conducts his own separate interviews of the IDF chief candidates, and there are times when the premier will inform the defense minister who is preferred, but the defense minister has the authority to make his own choice.
However, usually when a defense minister makes his own choice, he leads another party or is viewed as a major security figure in his own right, whereas Katz is a highly seasoned minister, but not known for particular expertise in defense.
Netanyahu rushing the interviews before his trip to Washington DC next week is a likely indication that the decision regarding the chief will be publicized very soon.
While it was expected that Katz would move fast to select Herzi Halevi’s replacement for the job, following the current IDF chief’s announcement on January 21 that he would step down on March 6, the defense minister threw a wrench into the works at the end of last week by adding dark horse candidate Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai.
Three candidates
Both The Jerusalem Post and the entire Israeli media got two of three candidates on the final list correct: Defense Ministry Director-General and former deputy IDF chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir and outgoing IDF deputy chief Maj. Gen. Amir Baram.
However, the Post and all other media had reported that the third candidate on the shortlist would be Northern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Uri Gordon.
Instead, Yadai, who recently retired from the IDF after serving as IDF Land Forces Command Chief, appears to have ousted Gordon on the list.
Previously, Yadai had served as Central Command Chief, Home Front Command Chief, and commanded multiple different full IDF divisions following spending most of his career in the Golani Brigade.
He is seen as a dark horse candidate because, unlike Zamir and Baram, he has not been deputy IDF chief, nor has he commanded the northern or southern commands, considered the most important field command roles in the military.
Having led the northern command to defeating Hezbollah in sensational fashion was why Gordon was viewed as a top potential candidate. However, Katz may have viewed him as too close to Halevi.
While Zamir and Baram are still the most likely choices, Zamir being the lead candidate, Yadai could still be used as somewhat of an outsider who was the least close to Halevi, and in order to reshuffle the top echelons of the IDF to the extent that Netanyahu may want to water down opposition to some of his policies.
Zamir is viewed as favorable to Netanyahu, having served as his military secretary, although he demonstrated some independence threatening to quit his role at the defense ministry when Katz became defense minister.Only after Katz formally asked him to stay on, did Zamir remain in his current role.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.