Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot is an experienced officer with a long list of achievements under his belt. Nevertheless, on Feb. 17, he found himself caught in a political crossfire. It happened soon after he gave a talk to a group of high school students in the town of Bat Yam. When asked about the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) procedures for opening fire on assailants, given the wave of terrorism that has been overwhelming Israel for the past few months, Eizenkot said, “Every IDF force out on a mission receives beforehand rules of engagement. The IDF cannot speak in slogans, such as 'if someone comes to kill you, arise to kill them first’ [Talmud, tractate Berakhot 58a]. … There have been cases in which a 13-year-old girl with scissors or a knife got into a confrontation with soldiers. I don't want a soldier to empty a magazine on a girl with scissors.” The chief of staff emphasized that according to existing orders, soldiers are entitled to use force to eliminate threats.

The right wing of the political spectrum immediately attacked Eizenkot for this. The first to lash out was far-right Knesset member Betzalel Smotrich (HaBayit HaYehudi), followed by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud). Next came a statement from Minister of Transportation and Intelligence Yisrael Katz (Likud). Then Minister of Internal Affairs Gilad Erdan (Likud) made some comments, which were interpreted as criticism of the chief of staff.

In Israel, the chief of staff is almost always part of the consensus. In general, politicians tend to avoid public clashes with the most esteemed commander of the IDF. This time, however, there was a crack even in that paradigm. Over the past few years, the Israeli electorate has been veering steadily to the right. The political arena has been shifting rightward even faster, ahead of the electorate. Still holding the center is the IDF, its senior officers and the other heads of the security apparatus. Freed from voter intimidation and populist motives, Israel’s top defense officials continue to stick to the facts and maintain their composure. Having noticed this lacuna, politicians are becoming less wary of the esteem traditionally afforded to senior officers. As we have already seen this week, they have no qualms about lashing out at the most respected officers, including even the chief of staff, just to score points with an ever-growing right-wing electorate.

As a result of this firestorm, Channel 10 News published the results of a survey on Feb. 21 that found that most Jewish respondents believed that the chief of staff’s remarks were misguided.