by Dave Bender, Gur Salomon
JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) southern command chief, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, was chosen on Sunday as the next army chief of staff, after Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi who was expected to step down in February, 2011.
"It is the right move in order to bring stable functioning back to the army's senior echelon," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced his decision of the 20th army chief.
Barak said he would bring the decision for government approval at the next cabinet session. "Because of the present situation, we have to quickly implement the decision," Barak told member of the Israeli cabinet, where he made the statement at the weekly Sunday morning session.
Barak may have been referring to grave Israeli concerns over Iranian nuclear aspirations. Israel and the international community are concerned that Iran could use fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plants to make nuclear weapons. Israeli leaders have called the Iranian nuclear weapon an existential danger to the Jewish state, and both Israel and the United States have said they would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
As also, the decision on the timing of the announcement of the new army chief came amid a political intrigue over an apparent forgery called the "Galant Document." The imbroglio hit the headlines on Aug. 6, when Israel Channel 2 television exposed a document -- allegedly written by a high-end public relations and strategic adviser -- which purportedly laid out a smear campaign against Ashkenazi and other senior officials.
The document was allegedly ordered and paid by Galant, who immediately denied any connection to the widening scandal, as did the public relations chief Eyal Arad. Arad Communications' logo is at the top of the document.
The Israel Police launched an investigation and has questioned a long list of senior officers, including IDF General Staff officers. Investigators said last Thursday that they had evidence proving that the document was most likely a forgery.
Galant reportedly claimed on Wednesday that foes at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv conspired against him in the fierce competition for the top spot, and prepared the document. Israeli Army Radio on Sunday reported that Ashkenazi has a close relationship with Boaz Harpaz, who may be a suspect in the forgery.
"The worst part of this affair is that it affects our most important asset -- the belief and support of the people of Israel, " Ashkenazi said during a graduation ceremony for officers held on Wednesday.
The Israeli premier had called on the IDF brass to "stop dealing with the investigation" and continue their cooperation with the Defense Ministry.
Galant, 52, began his military career as a commando and officer in the "Shayetet 13" naval special operations unit. The highly- regarded seaborne unit raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31, killing nine passengers in a pitched battle with armed activists aboard one of the vessels.
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