He had never spoken so openly. In a series of conversations with Al-Monitor, retired Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the 21st chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), provided a wide-ranging overview of Israel’s military campaign against the Islamic State (IS) throughout the Middle East and the blows Israel has inflicted on Iran and its Quds Force in recent years.
Eizenkot served as IDF chief for four years (2015-2019). During his term, Israel had almost assassinated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani 18 months before the United States did in January 2020, Eizenkot revealed. Israel had also destroyed all the IRGC’s facilities in Syria, an outcome that he described as tantamount to a destruction of Israel’s major arms development industries.
