Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin
Maj. Gen. Ori GordinIDF Spokesperson

Senior IDF officials estimate that due to the current situation created in the General Staff after the resignation of Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, it may be decided to appoint, in what would an exceptional appointment, a temporary acting deputy to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff, Galai Tzahal (IDF Radio) reported.

According to the report by reporter Doron Kadosh, because the Minister of Defense is not approving the appointments of generals at this stage and the possibility that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi will leave his position in the next two months and will not want to appoint a deputy chief of staff for whoever will succeed him, senior IDF officials estimate that the most likely possibility is that he will make a temporary appointment to the position.

One of the options on the table is that Minister of Defense Katz will finalize the appointment with his candidate for the position of Chief of Staff, and the officer chosen will start as a temporary position and may later become permanent.

The most likely candidate for the position of Deputy Chief of Staff is Northern Command Commander Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin. Other names in the running for the position if a temporary appointment is decided upon include former Ground Forces Commander Tamir Yadai, Planning and Force build up Directorate Head Eyal Harel, and Home Front Command Commander Rafi Milo.