Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz have agreed to extend the term of IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi by one year.
The decision will now be submitted for approval at the next meeting of Cabinet ministers, who are likely to endorse the move.
According to a statement TV7 obtained from the Prime Minister’s Media Advisor, Netanyahu “is convinced that the decision will receive broad support among the Ministers.”
Lt. Gen. Kochavi commanded the Israel Defense Forces campaign during the 10-21 May conflict with Gaza. While summarizing Operation Guardian of the Walls in an address at the army’s Operations Division, he revealed that ‘the element of surprise’ to the list of significant achievements during the latest round of hostilities with the terrorist-controlled Palestinian enclave.
“Hamas was surprised three times,” he said, by Israel’s preparedness and swift response, the level of power leveled against it, and the accuracy of strikes against its capabilities. The military chief stressed that during the exercise of Israel’s self-defense, “we acted in the spirit of the IDF, in the spirit of the Jewish people – in the most crowded and complicated place in the world, and in spite of all this, we brought about all of these achievements.”
After praising the high level of coordination between the general staff, command and divisions, Gen. Kochavi emphasized it is critical that Israeli army maintain superiority ahead of the next, seemingly inevitable round of hostilities.
“With all these achievements, we must remain critical of ourselves, we must remain humble, and we must maintain a learning and improvement process of all that is needed,” he said, underscoring that the IDF will be forced to react immediately against any further attacks from Gaza.