New Defense Ministry head (not Liberman) takes post

Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Adam replaces Dan Harel as director general of the Defense Ministry, following an official ceremony in the army’s Tel Aviv headquarters.

Adam, a former IDF general and head of Israel’s Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, was appointed to the position of director-general last month by former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon.

“We’ll take the baton and do the work in the best and most professional way possible, as our central mission is to support the needs of the IDF,” Adam says.

Harel, who has served in the position since 2013, announced his plans to leave last month, before the recent political shakeup that ended with his former boss Moshe Ya’alon resigning as defense minister just before he was kicked out of the position for the incoming Avigdor Liberman.

During his farewell speech, Harel doesn’t explicitly mention Ya’alon’s ouster, but makes clear references to the dramatic turn of events.

“In the past three years our lives have been shook up, from the Islamic State and in general. Our lives here in Israel have changed as well. There was a very large internal change, in terms of the Defense Ministry and in terms of defense in general,” Harel says.

“The Defense Ministry, which is the ministry with the largest amount of operational power in the country, will continue to work toward its missions and national missions with the incredible commitment of its workers,” he says.

Ordinarily, the defense minister would oversee such a ceremony, but Liberman will only take up the position next week.

— Judah Ari Gross