Israel needs a full-time defense minister
Op-ed: Netanyahu, on top of being the prime minister, is the health, foreign affairs and now also defense minister. His time is limited and the defense minister has much to deal with, including the appointment of a deputy IDF chief and two military secretaries and the sensitive security situation in the south.
A new chief of staff and his deputy coming into office in six weeks—with the position of the deputy chief still vacant—in addition to two new military secretary appointments in the Defense Minister's Office and the Prime Minister's office. Add to that the sensitive security situation and the IDF's performance against Hamas, and you can't help but question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's irresponsible decision to leave the defense establishment without a full-time defense minister.
Netanyahu's decision to assume the post of defense minister, while holding the foreign affairs and health portfolio in addition to his demanding post, puts the IDF in a difficult position. The army is in a desperate need of an attentive full-time minister to deal with a series of ongoing security issues, and the prime minister's time is limited.
And we haven't even mentioned the additional areas the defense minister is responsible of—the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at), the Defense Ministry's Security Authority (Malmab), the Rehabilitation Department—with which the prime minister will not have the time to handle.
Manning the defense minister post is even more important now than ever in light of the tense and fragile situation in the south, as well as the fact the IDF is currently facing a challenging and complex situation.
To fully understand the severity of the situation, one must read the letter sent by Col. Alon Madanes to his superiors, revealing a series of organizational and operational failures in the IDF, particularly focusing on deficiencies in the Central Command.
In the letter obtained by Ynet, Madanes, 42, who served as the commander of the 101st Paratrooper Battalion and the western brigade along the Lebanese border, was wounded during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, and received an IDF citation for leading forces in their battle against terror cells.
He was one of the candidates for the Paratroopers Brigade's commander, one of the most prestigious positions in the Ground Forces. Many of those who filled that position over the years reached the major general rank and even appointed chief of staff.
Madanes wrote his letter in July, before the decision about his appointment was made. The letter reached the GOC Central Command after his decision not to appoint Madanes as the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade or another brigade.
The letter's first part is dedicated to the "fear to express an opinion." According to Madanes, "the higher the rank, the more an incomprehensible fear of expressing an opinion develops, with the excuse being that 'there is need for balance.'"
Madanes quotes another IDF official as saying: "The audacity to tell the truth in an accurate manner was great until you made company commander, and it jeopardizes you the minute you are promoted to battalion commander."
Madanes wrote that despite the fact the aforementioned quote is accurate, he refuses to act by it.
"The fact we are holding general staff conferences, allowing everyone to speak their mind, does not make us pluralists. The message conveyed is monotonous! More and more I hear my colleagues use the phrase 'the emperor has no clothes' regarding IDF senior officials, who do not voice their concerns about issues they consider as problematic."
Moreover, "there is a great lack of respect toward discipline in the IDF. Many casualties and fatalities could have been prevented over the past two years, if we had only dealt with such cases of negligence on time," he lamented.
Madanes also criticized the military's flagship Gideon plan, led by outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. "The five-year plan attempted to change too many things at once, and at least part of them correspond with the phrase 'grasp all, lose all.' I would recommend the general staff to hold a thorough inquiry into the Gideon plan," Madanes wrote.
Incoming Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi should read Madanes's letter, as well as the relevant part of the IDF ombudsman's report (not all the criticism presented in the report is justified), learn the lessons from the rounds of fighting in Gaza, and remember he only has one month of training, with no deputy or a defense minister. Good luck to us all.
