Minister of Defense Benjamin Ben-Eliezer will soon decide who will be the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) next chief of staff. This can be done either by sticking to the traditional method of picking one of the top IDF brass, or by taking some time out to think things over. Ever since Israel’s foundation, no serious though has been given to the characteristics of a suitable IDF chief of staff. Now that the IDF is engaged in fighting, and tragic and unnecessary mistakes are being made, such thinking is definitely in order.
The candidates for the job are Uzi Dayan and Moshe (Bogi) Yaalon. Both are presumably good and talented officers. Each has made a considerable contribution to the IDF. They may differ from each other in certain respects, but they undoubtedly share one characteristic with each other and with their colleagues: neither will embark on the in-depth analysis the IDF needs. It is not that they are unwilling to make the required changes. They are simply incapable of taking such a course of action.
The army is a rigid institution. People who spend all their professional life in such a place turn into change-resistant individuals. They are no longer capable of noticing what needs to be changed, and even if they do, they find it difficult to change things, because, after all, they are partly responsible for the phenomena that need to be changed.
To get the jolt it needs, the army may need an outside leader; someone free of the traditional mistakes, shortcomings and rigid mindset; someone capable of detecting the weak points. A kind of CEO seconded by a career officer who will deal only with professional military matters.
Perhaps candidates for chief of staff should perhaps spend some time as civilians in the private sector, so as to be able to see the world outside the protected world of the IDF? After a few years, having rid themselves of the unimaginative, rigid IDF mindset, they may become chiefs of staff with new ideas and fresh perspectives.
Is there a chance that someone will try to do something along these lines? Apparently not. The reason is that not only do chiefs of staff come from the army, but so do the people who appoint them. Perhaps that’s our biggest problem: army officers have not taken over only the army, but the entire state.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 4 March, 2002