Hirsch, the commander of the Galilee Formation, informed Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz of his decision this morning (Sunday), just before an IDF investigative team headed by Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog was to recommend Hirsch’s dismissal. Almog is to present a harsh report to the IDF General Staff today on the events leading up to the abduction of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser this past July.
The two reservists were taken prisoner when Hizbullah terrorists attacked their vehicle at an IDF outpost near Moshav Zar'it on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Four other soldiers were killed in the attack, and four others were killed shortly afterwards when their tank was blown up by a Hizbullah-placed bomb as they went to seek the kidnapped soldiers. No word of Regev's and Goldwasser's condition has been heard since they were abducted exactly four months ago.
The Almog investigative committee blames Hirsch for failing to verify that his directives were being carried out, such that the troops did not practice a kidnapping scenario beforehand. The report also includes accounts of previous attempted abductions that were foiled.
Investigation chief Almog said that Hirsch should have placed his troops on heightened alert automatically after IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped on the Gaza border two weeks earlier.
Another IDF investigation - not of the kidnapping, but of the war that followed - found fault in the way Hirsch and other commanders functioned during the war.
Halutz Asks Hirsch to Reconsider
Chief of Staff Halutz has asked Hirsch - widely considered a promising young general - to reconsider his resignation. Halutz himself is on the firing line, and MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) this morning became just the latest public figure to demand his resignation in light of the unsuccessful war effort.
Eldad said that Halutz should take an example from Gal Hirsch and resign. "If he doesn't have the courage and wisdom to recognize his own responsibility," Eldad said, "then let him at least appreciate his underlings who say, 'After me!' [an IDF catch-phrase signaling officers' fearless leadership]."
Chief of Staff Halutz planned a wave of promotions in the army several weeks ago, but Defense Minister Amir Peretz froze them due to public opposition. Among the planned appointments had been that of Gen. Hirsch as Head of the Strategic Planning Division in the IDF Planning Wing.
Halutz was widely criticized for planning to promote officers while the army was under investigation for the way it ran the recent war. Ex-National Security Advisor Gen. (ret.) Uzi Dayan said, for instance, that the purpose of the appointments was "simply to deceive the public into believing that everything [in the IDF] is fine and back to normal."
Army Shake-ups
Hirsch is the third senior IDF commander to leave his post in the wake of the recent war, and the first to resign as a result of internal investigative reports. Gen. Yiftah Ron-Tal was fired last month for having said that the preparations for the Disengagement came at the expense of combat training and helped lead to the IDF's recent failure in Lebanon. In September, a month after the war ended, Northern Commander Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam resigned because of his strained relations with Chief of Staff Halutz, who appointed another Northern Command commander alongside Adam in the middle of the war.
The two reservists were taken prisoner when Hizbullah terrorists attacked their vehicle at an IDF outpost near Moshav Zar'it on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Four other soldiers were killed in the attack, and four others were killed shortly afterwards when their tank was blown up by a Hizbullah-placed bomb as they went to seek the kidnapped soldiers. No word of Regev's and Goldwasser's condition has been heard since they were abducted exactly four months ago.
The Almog investigative committee blames Hirsch for failing to verify that his directives were being carried out, such that the troops did not practice a kidnapping scenario beforehand. The report also includes accounts of previous attempted abductions that were foiled.
Investigation chief Almog said that Hirsch should have placed his troops on heightened alert automatically after IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped on the Gaza border two weeks earlier.
Another IDF investigation - not of the kidnapping, but of the war that followed - found fault in the way Hirsch and other commanders functioned during the war.
Halutz Asks Hirsch to Reconsider
Chief of Staff Halutz has asked Hirsch - widely considered a promising young general - to reconsider his resignation. Halutz himself is on the firing line, and MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) this morning became just the latest public figure to demand his resignation in light of the unsuccessful war effort.
Eldad said that Halutz should take an example from Gal Hirsch and resign. "If he doesn't have the courage and wisdom to recognize his own responsibility," Eldad said, "then let him at least appreciate his underlings who say, 'After me!' [an IDF catch-phrase signaling officers' fearless leadership]."
Chief of Staff Halutz planned a wave of promotions in the army several weeks ago, but Defense Minister Amir Peretz froze them due to public opposition. Among the planned appointments had been that of Gen. Hirsch as Head of the Strategic Planning Division in the IDF Planning Wing.
Halutz was widely criticized for planning to promote officers while the army was under investigation for the way it ran the recent war. Ex-National Security Advisor Gen. (ret.) Uzi Dayan said, for instance, that the purpose of the appointments was "simply to deceive the public into believing that everything [in the IDF] is fine and back to normal."
Army Shake-ups
Hirsch is the third senior IDF commander to leave his post in the wake of the recent war, and the first to resign as a result of internal investigative reports. Gen. Yiftah Ron-Tal was fired last month for having said that the preparations for the Disengagement came at the expense of combat training and helped lead to the IDF's recent failure in Lebanon. In September, a month after the war ended, Northern Commander Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam resigned because of his strained relations with Chief of Staff Halutz, who appointed another Northern Command commander alongside Adam in the middle of the war.