Herzi Halevy, 55, said at the ceremony inducting him as the IDF’s 23rd chief of staff: “During 75 years of independence, we have climbed out of being a nation surrounded by enemies to one able itself to encircle those enemies thanks to our strength and advanced resources.”
Halevi was elevated to Lieutenant General at a handover ceremony from Aviv Kohavi on Monday, Jan.16 at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, in which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Gen. Khohavi also officiated.
Referring to the “various emerging threats calling for resolution,” Halevi cited Iran first but also Israel’s northern border, the Gaza Strip and the challenges of terrorist unrest in Judea and Samaria. We will deal [with them all] “by bringing to bear our security advantage, deterrence, advanced resources and exceptional fitness. We do what we say we can do and more than we say,” he said.
Like Kohavi, Halevi is committed to providing combat units with the finest military high-tech. He stressed in his debut speech his plans for high quality recruitment “from all strata of the population, to strengthen the reserve army and to maintain a united, focused, moral and professional IDF, free from any consideration.”
Halevi, married to Sharon and father of four, came from the post of Deputy Chief of Staff after serving as head of the Paratroops Brigade, AMAN (Army Intelligence), and OC Southern Command and years spent r in active combat. Halevi holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and business administration from the Hebrew University and a master’s degree in national resource management from the US National Defense University. He grew up in an observant Jerusalem family descended from distinguished rabbis on his father’s side and exiles from the Spanish inquisition who reached Jerusalem 25 generations ago, on his mother’s.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, used his speech to slam the Iranian regime. “Iran is responsible for 90pm of the problems in the Middle East. This regime threatens to destroy us. We will not wait for a sharp sword to be placed on our necks.” Netanyahu said. “We will not be dragged into unnecessary wars, but on the decisive day, we will fight,” Netanyahu added.
DEBKAfile: The new military chief’s pledge for Israel’s military to lead the battle against a nuclear Iran is a repetition of similar promises voiced for more than a decade by one Israeli government leader and general after another. Iran meanwhile marches forward with its plans and has grown into a nuclear-threshold nation capable of making a bomb in less than two months.
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