At the end of an exhaustive selection process over the past three months, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Friday announced his choice for the next IDF chief of staff: the current Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Aviv Kochavi. Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot, who has been Chief of Staff since February 16, 2015, was not requested to extend his service contract by a year or two, as is common with many IDF chiefs. His predecessor, Benny Gantz, served from February 14, 2011 to February 16, 2015.
The lengthy selection process included four candidates. He consulted with dozens of people, including former prime ministers, defense ministers and chiefs of staff, as well as past commanding officers of the candidates.
Liberman announced his decision to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot. He also spoke with the three other candidates for the position and thanked them for their professional, respectable, respectful, and gentlemanly experience.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Liberman will present his choice to retired judge Eliezer Goldberg, Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Appointments to Senior Positions in the Civil Service. Subject to the committee’s approval, the Minister of Defense will bring the appointment to the Cabinet’s approval, following which Kochavi will take office in January 2019.
“The defense minister came to the decision that Maj. Gen. Kochavi is the most appropriate, most clear and most experienced candidate to serve as chief of staff,” said the Defense Ministry’s announcement Friday. “Maj. Gen. Kochavi has impressive leadership, daring, creativity and command capabilities. The unique combination of the many roles he played in the IDF, his proven command capabilities during times of emergency and routine, the great esteem he has earned in the IDF and beyond as a professional authority, and the great success with which he performed his missions over the years – all of these make him highly suitable to lead the IDF in the coming years.”
During the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, Kochavi served as head of Military Intelligence, and in the official report on the campaign, he was criticized for “not working to dedicate the appropriate intelligence effort to combating the tunnel threat from the Gaza Strip.”
Kochavi, 54, married with three children, holds a BA in philosophy, a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and an MA in international relations. He is known for his talent for drawing, which helped him develop ideas and operational plans. He has held a number of prominent positions in the IDF, including as deputy chief of staff (current post), commander of the Northern Command, head of Military Intelligence, commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, commander of the Gaza Division, and head of the operations division in the General Staff.