The IDF has promoted Col. Avi Benayahu to the rank of Brigadier General and has appointed the former left-wing journalist as the new army spokesman. He replaces Brigadier General Miri Regev, effective Thursday.

The new spokesman was a reporter for Ma'ariv in the 1980s and then joined the staff of the left-wing newspaper Al Hamishmar. He also was a member of the Israeli delegation in talks at the Wye Plantation in the United States, which focused on reducing the Jewish presence in Hevron.