Deputy Chief of General Staff (IDF)

The Deputy Chief of General Staff is the second to the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. The Deputy chief of Staff is an officer with the rank of Major General (Aluf). The current Deputy Chief of Staff is Major General (Aluf) Amir Baram.[1]

Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
סגן ראש המטה הכללי
Incumbent
Amir Baram
since 31 October 2022
FormationJanuary 1948
First holderTzvi Ayalon
The rank of the Deputy Chief of staff (Aluf)

History

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The position of Deputy Chief of Staff was not continuously filled. Until 1999, Deputy Chiefs of Staff served as the Commanders of the General Staff Directorate simultaneously, With the exception of Haim Bar-Lev who held office on the eve of and during the Six Day War and Israel Tal who held office after the Yom Kippur War. In 1999, the Operations Directorate was established and the positions were officially separated, Since then, it is common to see the Deputy Chief of Staff as the person in charge of the IDF force building, Procurement, development, equipping and maintenance of weapons, Planning, recruitment and training of personnel and maintaining their fitness and more. Despite legislative proposals on the matter, the Deputy Chief of Staff is not defined by law as acting in place of the Chief of Staff.

Since 2005 The Control and Surveillance Department in the IDF is subordinate to the Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2016-2017, the Computer Service Directorate was also subordinate to the Deputy Chief of Staff.

The acting Deputy Chief of Staff is usually one of the natural candidates to replace the outgoing Chief of Staff. And it is accepted to see the fulfillment of the position as an "apprenticeship" before taking command of the IDF. 19 of the 22 Chiefs of Staff who have headed the IDF to date, previously served in the position of Deputy Chief of Staff, usually close to their appointment as Chief of the General Staff.

List of Deputy Chiefs of Staff

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Picture Name Period of serving Chief of Staff Remarks
  Tzvi Ayalon January 1948 Yaakov Dori
  Mordechai Maklef 9 November 1949 - 7 December 1952 Yigael Yadin 3rd Chief of Staff
  Moshe Dayan 7 December 1952 - December 1953 Mordechai Maklef 4th Chief of Staff
  Haim Laskov 20 August 1955 - 23 July 1956 Moshe Dayan 5th Chief of Staff
  Tzvi Tzur 1958 – 1958 Haim Laskov 6th Chief of Staff
  Yitzhak Rabin 23 January 1961 - 30 December 1963 Tzvi Tzur 7th Chief of Staff
  Haim Bar-Lev May 1967 - January 1968 Yitzhak Rabin 8th Chief of Staff
  David Elazar 1969 - January 1972 Haim Bar-Lev 9th Chief of Staff
  Israel Tal 1972 – 1973 David Elazar
  Herzl Shafir April 1974 - March 1976 Mordechai Gur 7th commissioner of the Israeli Police
  Rafael Eitan August 1977 - April 1978 11th Chief of Staff
  Yekutiel Adam 1978 – 1982 Rafael Eitan killed in the 1982 Lebanon War before he could take up his post as Chief of Staff
  Moshe Levi 1982 – 1983 12th Chief of Staff
  David Ivry 1983 – 1985 Moshe Levi
  Dan Shomron 17 January 1985 - 1 October 1986 13th Chief of Staff
  Amir Drori 1 October 1986 - 6 April 1987 Dan Shomron
  Ehud Barak 7 May 1987 - 13 March 1991 14th Chief of Staff
  Amnon Lipkin-Shahak 13 March 1991 - 29 November 1994 Ehud Barak 15th Chief of Staff
  Matan Vilnai 29 November 1994 - 15 September 1997 Amnon Lipkin-Shahak
  Shaul Mofaz 15 September 1997 - 11 June 1998 16th Chief of Staff
  Uzi Dayan 11 June 1998 - 15 September 2000 Shaul Mofaz
  Moshe Ya'alon 15 September 2000 - 9 July 2002 17th Chief of Staff
  Gabi Ashkenazi 9 July 2002 - 15 July 2004 Moshe Ya'alon 19th Chief of Staff
  Dan Halutz 15 July 2004 - 17 March 2005 18th Chief of Staff
  Moshe Kaplinsky 17 March 2005 - 1 October 2007 Dan Halutz
  Dan Harel 1 October 2007 - 1 October 2009 Gabi Ashkenazi Director-General of Defense Ministry
  Benny Gantz 1 October 2009 - 25 November 2010 20th Chief of Staff
  Yair Naveh 25 November 2010 - 14 January 2013[2] Benny Gantz
  Gadi Eizenkot 14 January 2013 - 15 December 2014[3] 21st Chief of Staff
  Yair Golan 15 December 2014 - 11 May 2017[4] Gadi Eizenkot
  Aviv Kochavi 11 May 2017 - 13 December 2018[4] 22nd Chief of Staff
  Eyal Zamir 13 December 2018 - 11 July 2021[5] Aviv Kochavi
  Herzi Halevi 11 July 2021 - 31 October 2022[6] 23rd Chief of Staff
  Amir Baram 31 October 2022 - Present[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Gantz Appoints Gen. Amir Baram as Israel's Army Deputy Chief of Staff". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  2. ^ "Major General (Res.) Yair Naveh Named Next IDF Deputy Chief". Haaretz. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  3. ^ פינקלר, קובי (2013-01-14). "האלוף אייזנקוט מונה לסגן הרמטכ"ל". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  4. ^ a b "אלוף אביב כוכבי מונה לסגן הרמטכ"ל הבא". www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  5. ^ אייכנר, יואב זיתון ואיתמר (2018-11-22). "סגן הרמטכ"ל הבא: אייל זמיר". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  6. ^ "Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi takes over as IDF's deputy chief of staff". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2022-12-16.