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by Joshua Levitt
Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (left) with US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (center) and IDF's Chief of Staff Benny Gantz (right) on April 21, 2013. Photo: Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Israel Defense Force Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz’s tenure will be extended by one year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon recommended the extension, which will be submitted to Israel’s Cabinet at a meeting next Tuesday.
On Wednesday evening, Netanyahu met Chief-of-Staff Gantz to inform him of the decision. “Over the past three years, Chief-of-Staff Gantz has led the IDF, with impressive success, in the face of some of the most complex security challenges that the State of Israel has faced,” Netanyahu said.
Defense Minister Yaalon said Gantz was behind many IDF “successes, most of which I cannot detail, but which have allowed Israel’s citizens to continue with their daily routines and the State of Israel to continue to flourish and prosper.”
In a separate statement, Israeli President Shimon Peres said, “The extension for a fourth year of the service of General Gantz is a message of strength and peace. Who is a great commander? The one who can prevent a war where possible and win a war where we have to.”
President Peres added that “if war can be prevented it must be but if there is no choice it must be won swiftly and with strength. Chief of Staff Gantz is one of Israel’s great sons who provides hope and serves as an example to us all.”
