In rare critique, army chief blasts Bennett’s comment about IDF lawyers

Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett’s criticism of the army’s Military Advocate General, which he said helped prevent soldiers from carrying out their warfighting duties, draws a rare rebuke from the IDF’s chief of staff.

Bennett made the comments at a press conference in the Knesset in which he reneged on his ultimatum to resign from the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not appoint him defense minister.

Citing Israel’s “deep security crisis,” he said the country “has stopped winning” since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

The comment draws rare criticism of a politician from the IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, who opened today’s meeting with the army’s general staff by backing Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Sharon Afek.

“The MAG [corps] is part of the IDF’s strength. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the army’s commanders and warriors in carrying out their operational goals and winning on the battlefield,” Eisenkot says in comments released by his office to the press.

“Maj. Gen. Sharon Afek has carried out his duties with professionalism and excellence, and is respected both within the IDF and outside it,” Eisenkot adds.

The chief of staff demands that the IDF be “kept out of the political debate.”