Galantry - The Fall of a Strong Leader for the IDF

Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally pulled the plug on the nomination of Yoav Galant as the new head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), arguably the most important institution in an Israel surrounded by angry and unstable enemies. You can read Haaretz's story on the fall here.

The scandalette surrounding Galant's appointment has to do with a matter most Israelis treat as relatively trivial. His sin – he or his builders (it's not entirely clear who started the problem) expanded the area of the land surrounding his house in a moshav by absorbing public land into the site. The real question turned on when he knew about it and what he said in sworn documents to the Israel Lands Authority and a court hearing the matter. This kind of seeking approval a posteriori for small land acquisitions and in Brazilian terms doesn't approach the abuses of the latifundários of rural Brazil.

But, the head of the IDF needs not only to be above reproach but needs to be seen to be above reproach. So, the Controller-General of Israel issued a report that claims that Galant lies in the documents and the Attorney-General yesterday stated he could not support Galant's nomination in front of the Knesset or the judiciary. So, late last night, the PM finally pulled the plug.

Just before he received the summons from Netanyahu, Galant appeared on an investigative journalism program on one of Israel's main TV channels, Channel 2. I wish American politicians could see his performance. It was truly impressive. He stoically and directly answered the reporter's questions. He showed calm and forthrightness in asserting his innocence. He showed why he had been selected to succeed as the leader of the IDF in the first place. This is the type of personality we would want as the head of the country's armed forces.

However, the political context weighed too heavily against him. The Knesset is rivaling the Brazilian Congress in terms of the pursuit of self-interest by its members and has little respect from Israelis in general. Former PM Ehud Olmert is defending himself against corruption charges as are the sons of Ariel Sharon and current Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. And, the list of corruption charges goes on. So, the public's tolerance for new scandals is at a low point. To have the candidate for the leadership of the IDF become the subject of daily headlines not because of his views on Iran or Hamas, but because of a petty land dispute is not what Netanyahu needs for his government.

Waiting until the last minute (the appointment was due to take effect in two weeks) to resolve this leaves the IDF in the hands of interim leaders until a new candidate can be vetted and appointed. This only gives the various political and bureaucratic factions more opportunity to promote their candidates and trash their opponents.

But worst, I think we have lost the services of a good person and potentially strong leader.