The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces, is the supreme commander and head of the Israel Defense Forces. At any given time, the Chief of the General Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, rav aluf, which is usually translated into English as lieutenant general, a three-star rank. The only exception to this rule occurred during the Yom Kippur War, when former Chief of the General Staff Haim Bar-Lev, who was a cabinet member at the outbreak of and during the war, was brought out of retirement and installed as chief of Southern Command. For a brief period, he and Chief of the General Staff David Elazar were both in active service with the rank of rav aluf. The Israel Defense Forces is an integrated force, its ranks are the same in all services. It has a slightly compacted rank structure; for instance, the Chief of the General Staff is seemingly only equivalent to a lieutenant general in other militaries. Rav aluf means 'chief-general', which would be equal to a field marshal or five star general in other armies and equivalent to OF-10.
Legal position
The position of ramatkal is defined in the Basic Law: The Military, clause three:
The Chief of the General Staff is to be placed under the authority of the government and subordinate to the Defense Minister
The Chief of the General Staff is to be appointed by the government, according to the recommendation of the Defense Minister
The Chief of the General Staff is formally appointed once every three years, with the government often extending the term to four years, and in some occasions, even five. As of 15 January 2019, the Chief of the General Staff is Aviv Kochavi.
Significance
Given the importance of the IDF in Israeli society, the Chief of the General Staff is an important public figure in Israel. On appointment of a new Chief of the General Staff, mass-circulation papers such as Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom customarily provide their readers with large-scale portrait photos of the new Chief. Former Chiefs of the General Staff often parlay the prominence of their position into political life, and sometimes the business world. Two Chiefs of the General Staff have become Prime Minister of Israel and eleven others have served in the Knesset. Of these, only Tzur did not get appointed to the Cabinet. Five former Chiefs of the General Staff held the position of Defense Minister, widely considered to be one of the most powerful ministerial posts in the country and the immediatecivilian superior of the Chief of the General Staff. The current holder of the post is former Chief of StaffBenny Gantz. Moshe Dayan served also as Foreign Minister. Soon after his discharge, Dan Halutz became the CEO of a prestigious car importer. Ehud Barak took a hiatus from politics twice after defeats for re-election and pursued successful international business ventures.
