Defense minister approves fresh round of IDF appointments

New US defense attache, heads of Israel Navy, ground forces will enter their positions next year

The former head of the IDF’s Gaza Division will head to the United States in the coming months as Israel’s new defense attache to the Pentagon, the army announced on Sunday.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also approved the appointment of a new head of the Israel Navy and IDF ground forces, along with other shake-ups to the IDF General Staff that are slated to come into effect next year, the army said in a statement.

Brig.-Gen. Mickey Edelstein, who led the Gaza Division during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in the Strip, will go up a rank in order to replace current US attache Gen. Yaakov Ayash, who has served in the position for the past four years.

Brig.-Gen. Eli Sharvit, who currently commands the IDF’s Haifa naval base, will also go up in rank to general as he becomes the IDF’s top sailor, taking over as head of the Navy for Gen. Ram Rothberg, who has served in the position since 2011.

Israel Navy commander Ram Rothberg salutes the incoming crew of the INS Rahav, Israel's newest submarine, before it sets off from the German port of Kiel towards Haifa, where it is set to arrive next month, on December 17, 2015. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit) — Israel Navy commander Ram Rothberg salutes the incoming crew of the INS Rahav, Israel’s newest submarine, before it sets off from the German port of Kiel towards Haifa, where it is set to arrive next month, on December 17, 2015. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Starting next year, the IDF’s ground forces, which are responsible for training and developing the army’s infantry, tank and artillery corps, will be led by current technology and logistics commander Gen. Kobi Barak, as Gen. Guy Tzur steps down from the role he has held for the past three years.

Meanwhile, Brig.-Gen. Aharon Haliva, who now leads the IDF’s secretive Operations Brigade, will take over for Barak as head of the army’s logistics and technology directorate. He too will go up a rank as he moves to the general staff.

Brig.-Gen. Nadav Padan, a veteran of the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando force, will take over the army’s J6/C4i Directorate, which is responsible for the army’s technological and telecommunication’s efforts, including the army’s yet-to-be-established cyber defense command. Padan, who has a degree in industrial design, will be raised to the rank of a general as he takes over for the army’s current chief computer guy, Gen. Uzi Moscovitch, in a time when the army’s digital warfare efforts have come to the fore.

Though these appointments have all been approved by Ya’alon, the actual changes to the IDF’s high command will not go into effect until next year.