The IDF announced this evening (Thursday) that Operations Division head Brigadier General Shlomi Binder will be appointed as the next head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and will be promoted to the rank of Major General.
Binder will replace Major General Aharon Haliva, who announced his resignation last month following the intelligence failures that led to the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7.
The IDF announcement states, "After a lengthy process, the Minister of Defense, Mr. Yoav Gallant, and the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, have decided to promote commanders who excelled in combat on the ground and at headquarters during the "Swords of Iron" War to positions in the General Staff Forum. The Minister of Defense has approved the Chief of the General Staff's recommendations for the following appointments:"
"Brigadier General Shlomi Binder will be appointed as the Head of the Intelligence Directorate (J2). He will be promoted to the rank of Major General."
On Tuesday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit denied a report by journalist Amit Segal that Binder had stated that Binder had called Jewish nationalist crime the "number one problem" in Judea and Samaria.
"The statements attributed to Brigadier General Shlomi Binder were never uttered by him, they are devoid of any basis and do not reflect his positions," the spokesperson stated.
Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, the head of Midreshet Lindenbaum, told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that he knows and has "many good things to say about" Gen. Binder and that there is "no one better suited for the position."