Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot (now a Knesset member in the National Unity party) has revealed that when he was first appointed to head the IDF, his mother reacted with disappointment.
"'I wanted him to be a rabbi,' is what she said," Eizenkot told the Knesset Channel. "I grew up in a traditional family, and that's part of what makes me strong, as well as able to see things in a clearer and more balanced light."
During his interview, Eizenkot referred back to another interview granted by his mother to Ynet after he became Chief of Staff. "She said, 'All my life, since he was born, I have been blessing him. Blessing him what? That he should be successful, wherever he applies himself, in whatever he does - that he should be successful with G-d's help.'"
Eizenkot added that his mother was "very moved, really emotional," when he became Chief of Staff, and also noted that she wasn't the first person to find out about the appointment. "Other people knew about it before I did, because I keep Shabbat and I don't turn on the television or answer the phone or anything. He worked hard, very hard to get there, from when he enlisted at 18, he should only be healthy."