Outgoing Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi slammed PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, warning against political meddling in the military.
In a series of interviews with Israeli news outlets, just days before his successor Herzi Halevi takes his job, Kochavi a loud chorus of criticism against the most right-wing government in the Zionist entity’s history.
Kochavi took unusually sharp aim at Netanyahu’s coalition agreements with hard-line Jewish settlers who seek to entrench Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank, restructure the defense ministry and control a special paramilitary police unit, according to Israeli news site Ynet.
“This is likely to cause damage and adversely affect our preparedness for war,” Kochavi told the Ynet.
Kochavi issued a stark warning over efforts by Netanyahu’s government to split off parts of the responsibilities from the defense minister to the second minister appointed a role in the Defense Ministry, Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich, including authority over civil affairs in the West Bank.
He said that such efforts would damage the Israeli army’s command structure and hamper its battle readiness.
Speaking to Channel 12 news, Kochavi said: “The IDF chief reports to one minister, the minister of defense, and I have no doubt that this will continue,” referring to Israeli occupation forces.
“There cannot be two commanding authorities (in the West Bank),” said Kochavi who steps down on Monday.
“The separation between us is not good and may cause damage and lead to a worse situation for all populations.”
Source: Israeli media
