The prerogative for appointing the IDF Chief of Staff rests with the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Minister of Defense, Amir Peretz. Peretz is likely to make his nomination by Sunday.
Military commentators point to two names as the leading candidates to succeed Lt.-Gen. Halutz: his deputy, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, and Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who currently serves as the General Director of the Ministry of Defense. A third name, considered less likely, is Maj.-Gen. Benny Ganz, who is younger than Ashkenazi and Kaplinsky and heads the Ground Forces Command.
Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Deputy Chief of Staff from 2003 to 2006, was a leading contender for the post of Chief of Staff in 2005, but lost the race to Halutz and left the IDF. He thus did not take part in the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif. In July 2006, two weeks after the Second Lebanon War broke out, he became the Defense Ministry's Director-General at the behest of Minister Peretz.
Ashkenazi joined the Golani brigade as a young recruit in 1972 and fought on the southern front in the Yom Kippur War. In 1976 he participated in the Entebbe raid. He took command of Golani Brigade's Battalion 51 in 1980 and was among the commanders in the destruction of Yamit in 1981. In the 1982 Lebanon War, as Deputy Commander of Golani Brigade, he commanded the force that captured the Beaufort and Nabatiyeh. In 1987 he became Commander of the Golani Brigade.
He received the rank of Major-General in 1996 and became Assistant to the General Staff's Operations Branch Commander. As GOC Northern Command from 1998 to 2002, Ashkenazi was in charge of the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon.
Deputy Chief of Staff Kaplinsky began his service in the Golani brigade in 1976. In 1982, with the rank of major, he took command of Sayeret Golani, the brigade's reconnaissance special force. After periods of service as battalion commander (beginning in 1985), brigade commander (1990) and division commander (1997), he received the rank of Major-General and was appointed Prime Minister Sharon's military advisor.
In 2002, after Operation Defensive Shield, Kaplinsky (affectionately known, for obscure reasons, as "Kaplan") became GOC Central Command. During his tenure, suicide terror attacks were significantly reduced, as were shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria. On March 17th, 2005, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF by Lt.-Gen. Halutz.
On August 8th 2006, Kaplinsky was appointed the Chief of Staff's representative in Northern Command, as Peretz felt that the GOC, Udi Adam, was having problems running the war.
Some commentators see Kaplinsky's favored status with the political leadership, especially with ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as a liability, and believe he must bear some of the responsibility for the problematic Lebanon war.
Military commentators point to two names as the leading candidates to succeed Lt.-Gen. Halutz: his deputy, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, and Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who currently serves as the General Director of the Ministry of Defense. A third name, considered less likely, is Maj.-Gen. Benny Ganz, who is younger than Ashkenazi and Kaplinsky and heads the Ground Forces Command.
Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Deputy Chief of Staff from 2003 to 2006, was a leading contender for the post of Chief of Staff in 2005, but lost the race to Halutz and left the IDF. He thus did not take part in the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif. In July 2006, two weeks after the Second Lebanon War broke out, he became the Defense Ministry's Director-General at the behest of Minister Peretz.
Ashkenazi joined the Golani brigade as a young recruit in 1972 and fought on the southern front in the Yom Kippur War. In 1976 he participated in the Entebbe raid. He took command of Golani Brigade's Battalion 51 in 1980 and was among the commanders in the destruction of Yamit in 1981. In the 1982 Lebanon War, as Deputy Commander of Golani Brigade, he commanded the force that captured the Beaufort and Nabatiyeh. In 1987 he became Commander of the Golani Brigade.
He received the rank of Major-General in 1996 and became Assistant to the General Staff's Operations Branch Commander. As GOC Northern Command from 1998 to 2002, Ashkenazi was in charge of the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon.
Deputy Chief of Staff Kaplinsky began his service in the Golani brigade in 1976. In 1982, with the rank of major, he took command of Sayeret Golani, the brigade's reconnaissance special force. After periods of service as battalion commander (beginning in 1985), brigade commander (1990) and division commander (1997), he received the rank of Major-General and was appointed Prime Minister Sharon's military advisor.
In 2002, after Operation Defensive Shield, Kaplinsky (affectionately known, for obscure reasons, as "Kaplan") became GOC Central Command. During his tenure, suicide terror attacks were significantly reduced, as were shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria. On March 17th, 2005, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF by Lt.-Gen. Halutz.
On August 8th 2006, Kaplinsky was appointed the Chief of Staff's representative in Northern Command, as Peretz felt that the GOC, Udi Adam, was having problems running the war.
Some commentators see Kaplinsky's favored status with the political leadership, especially with ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as a liability, and believe he must bear some of the responsibility for the problematic Lebanon war.