Officers back Northern Command chief

Halutz's dramatic decision to designate his deputy, Moshe Kaplinsky, as his representative at the Northern Command operations center stirred emotions within the IDF and appeared to attest to the army chief's dissatisfaction with the way the war in Lebanon has been managed thus far.

However, Brigadier General Reuven Fierst, the former head of the IDF Technology and Logistics Directorate and one of the officers closest to Adam, expressed his complete confidence in the northern command chief.

"I will run after him anywhere, even to battle," Fierst said. "Me and the officers who know him have total trust in him at this time as well, and if he calls me tomorrow morning I'll be there by his side."

FIerst's comments accurately reflected the sense among Adam's former subordinates Wednesday morning. Officers at the Logistics Directorate said they saw many in tears at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv following the latest developments.

"We admired him here and when we heard about the way they handled him, we were stunned," one officer said. Everyone appeared united in the view that the decision to appoint Kaplinsky as Halutz' representative at the Northern Command was tantamount to Adam's ousting, even if this was done in a delicate manner.

Negative processes

"Many negative processes that took place in the army starting in 2000 led us to this situation," one senior officer said. "Now they found a victim – Udi. That's what happened here. After the war there will be many officers who'll have something to say."

'He continues because it's a war'

Brigadier General Fierst also has something to say about the situation, but added this was not the time.

"Udi is acting in a noble manner, anyone else would pack up his things and move on," Fierst says. "He (Adam) continues because it's a war. That's the way it should be done, and later lessons should be learned. Udi is a modest man… and an excellent leader, commander, and manager. He's not one of those who market themselves."

On Tuesday, Fierst attempted to reach Adam by phone, but without success. Instead, he sent him a text message: "I love you, I hug you, we all believe in you and are secure as long as you're there."

Meanwhile, senior officers closely familiar with Adam said he had a good relationship with Chief of Staff Halutz before the war.

"Udi has his own work methodologies and he brought them to the Northern Command," one officer said. "There, too, there was satisfaction. There are also good relations between Udi and Kaplinsky. It looks like they may be able to work together, but it's clear that his (Kaplinsky's) deployment there is a statement, and it creates difficult feelings."