From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 31, 2025
IDF reorganizes units responsible for Iran planning
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF’s Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate, tasked with the military’s Iran file, is being shuttered today and its units are being returned to the Planning and Force Design Directorate, the military announces.
New IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, upon entering the role earlier this month, ruled that the Iran unit, established only in 2020 by former chief of staff Aviv Kohavi, would be closed.
The Planning Directorate, headed by Vice Adm. Eyal Harel, will now be responsible for the Planning Division; the international cooperation unit, known as the Tevel Division; and the Strategic Division.
The Combat Methods and Innovation Division and Iran Headquarters unit are also being placed under the Planning Directorate for now, though they may be moved to another directorate at a later stage, the IDF says.
In 2020, the IDF established the Iran directorate by removing the Tevel and Strategic divisions from the Planning Directorate, rebranding it as the Planning and Force Design Directorate, and opening a new Iran Headquarters unit. The three units were then placed under the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate.
The current commander of the Iran directorate, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano announced his intention to resign from the military in December.
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