Ashkenazi says will implement war lessons
New IDF chief holds general staff meeting; says will visit IDF units to get an up-close impression of how they function; Halutz bids farewell from top brass with bitter note
During the meeting, Ashkenazi detailed his plans for the IDF, focusing especially on implementing changes based on lessons from last summer’s war in Lebanon. He said that in the near future he would visit the IDF units to get an up-close impression of how they function.
Ashkenazi's first day on the job started at the Western Wall. He then went to the various induction ceremonies at the Prime Minister's Office and at the official residence of the president in Jerusalem.
The tone was slightly spoiled by the outgoing Chief of Staff Dan Halutz's harsh speech. He criticized the Israeli culture of figuratively decapitating leaders.
He wondered what was happening with the national inquiry regarding the war's failures and reminded those in attendance that the Hebrew words for friend and foe were almost identical. However, he spoke only kind words of Ashkenazi.
'My dear friend, my second-in-command'
After another ceremony at the Defense Ministry, Ashkenazi summoned the general staff for a toast, and for the first general staff meeting headed by him. He shook the hands of all the generals and inspected the honor guard, alongside the outgoing chief of staff.
"I hope you continue to regard this as your home," he told Halutz, who departed from the top brass. Referring to Deputy IDF Chief Moshe Kapliski he said: "My dear friend, my second-in-command."
This was probably an attempt to refute the speculations that it was Kaplinski he referred to when he said he was "shot in the back by number two."
The IDF's 19th chief of staff will be kept busy in the coming months with implementing the lessons learned from the war, the nuclear development in Iran, the Palestinian front and the possibility of another eruption in the north.
