IDF names two new major generals to lead Iran fight, combat techniques

Two top IDF officers are promoted to the rank of major general as they prepare to enter newly-created positions on the General Staff as part of the military’s multi-year plan, the army says.

Former fighter pilot Maj. Gen. Tal Kalman, who was promoted from brigadier general, is slated to lead the Strategy and Iran Directorate, an entirely new position on the General Staff, which will focus principally on Israel’s fight against the Islamic Republic, which the military refers to as the “third circle” (the first being small terror groups on Israel’s borders, like Hamas, and the second being larger threats, like the Syrian army and Hezbollah).

The other officer, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, will take command of the IDF’s rejiggered Planning Directorate, which has been renamed the Force Design Directorate and is tasked with overseeing the development of new combat and weapons techniques, specifically in tactics and techniques that require cooperation between the various branches of the military.

The creation of these positions, along with other changes to the structure of the Israel Defense Forces, is part of the military’s multi-year Momentum Plan.

“The creation of these two directorates will help focus the entire IDF on two matters: the first, strengthening the process of multi-dimensional force-building, which represents a force multiplier in the multi-year Momentum Plan; and the second, directing attention to the field of strategy and to ‘third circle’ countries,” IDF Chief Aviv Kohavi says at the promotion ceremony.

— Judah Ari Gross