Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and Tzahi Hanegbi during their visit. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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On Sunday (Nov. 22), the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, and members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee visited the November recruits of the Golani Brigade on the day of their induction into the Israel Defense Forces. During the visit at the IDF Induction Base the Chief of the General Staff spoke about various topics currently preoccupying the IDF – among others the security situation in the North of Israel, the Iranian threat and the recent incidents of insubordination among the Kfir Brigade soldiers in the Judea and Samaria region.

Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi also spoke about the IDF’s deep obligation to release the captured soldier Gilad Shalit, as the organization who sent him on his mission. He said that the matter should be discussed behind the scenes though. “In my opinion, that is the right thing to do and the one thing that will bring this ordeal to an end. The publicity so far has caused damage and that is why we are obligated to keep things as they are, behind the scenes.”

Regarding the activities of the Lebanese army on the northern Israeli border, the Chief of the General Staff said: “We observe the situation on all the borders and there are no changes that indicate any escalation in the North; there is no extraordinary tension in the North.” He also added that there are no new conclusions about the activities of Iran. “This is not the first report and I assume it will not be the last; they are training and preparing, and we are following the phenomenon.”

Lt. Gen Gabi Ashkenazi also mentioned the issue of insubordination in the IDF, and said that the IDF cannot exist if its soldiers do not obey the commanders. He added that he thinks that this is clear to all recruits and the institutions they come from. “We are not prepared to see such phenomena, not from the left and not from the right – I recommend keeping political discourse out of the IDF.” MK Tzachi Hanegbi backed up the words of the Chief of the General Staff on the topic, and said that every IDF soldier has only one source of command to listen to, his or her commander in uniform. “We will not have a State if we show any weakness regarding this issue. There will be no tolerance toward insubordination.”