MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) has proposed legislation that will require the PM's Military Advisor to take a "cooling off" period before taking on a military command position.
Eldad explains that the bill is part of a process he wishes to initiate to prevent "politicization of the IDF." He submitted it after it was announced last week that Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni, PM Olmert's outgoing Military Advisor, would succeed Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh as the new Operating Commander (O.C.) of the Central Command.
Eldad says that with all three IDF Regional Commanders having served as military advisors of the Prime Minister, the situation has become critical and must be rectified. The Northern Commander is Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, and Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant heads the Southern Command. 
We need an army that weighs the facts on the ground based only on security... 
"Fifteen years ago," Eldad said, "the situation was ideal, in that the job of the Prime Minister's Military Advisor was the last stop; afterwards, he would retire from the army, with the understanding that he could not return to a combat position, because he would end up bringing the Prime Minister's political views with him."
"Of late, however, this job is no longer just being a liaison officer between the Prime Minister and the army and vice versa. Instead, he sits in meetings with the government and the IDF General Staff, and it's his job to bridge the gaps between them and find the common denominator between their positions."
Eldad provided a concrete example: "If the Military Advisor becomes the Southern Commander and has to propose a solution for Kassams, he will no longer take only military considerations into account, but will also consider how the government will relate to it. But we don't need this type of thinking as part of our decision-making. We need an army that weighs the facts on the ground based only on security... We need a genuinely professional picture."
MK Eldad said that the army's politicization was the source of much grief during the Second Lebanon War last summer. "The army was guilty of presenting only ideas that matched the government's basic positions," he said. "If they would have demanded a ground offensive, things would have been totally different."
For another example, Eldad added, "Outgoing Central Commander Gen. Naveh saw fit to place an army base on the ruins of Sa-Nur in the Shomron. Is it conceivable that Gen. Shamni, knowing so closely the opinions of Olmert and with his eyes on the position of Chief of Staff, would come to a similar decision?"