AG says Gantz can nominate IDF chief during election season, despite legal difficulties

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells Defense Minister Benny Gantz he can nominate the next Israel Defense Forces chief of staff despite it being an election season.

Caretaker governments traditionally shy away from making nominations for senior positions such as chief of police or the military.

But in a statement, Baharav-Miara says she has found that a classified dossier along with a legal opinion provided by the Defense Ministry are sufficient to allow the process of nominating the next chief of staff to continue before the election, even though it involves “significant legal difficulties.”

“There are exceptional circumstances of necessity and urgency to appoint a chief of staff who will take office in January 2023,” Baharav-Miara’s statement says.

She says she examined the Defense Ministry’s legal opinion with “all relevant” officials at the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office.

The candidates named by Gantz last month are Eyal Zamir, a former IDF deputy chief of staff currently serving as a research fellow at a think tank in Washington; Herzi Halevi, the current deputy chief of staff; and Yoel Strick, a former commander of the military’s Ground Forces, also serving as a research fellow at another think tank in Washington.