Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has decided to nominate Major General Herzi Halevi to take over the IDF chief of staff, replacing its current chief, Aviv Kohavi.
Gantz's office said - in a statement - that the defense minister chose Halevi after consulting with Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, and former prime ministers, defense ministers and chiefs of staff.
He added that the Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments will discuss in the coming days the appointment of Halevi, who was deputy chief of staff before referring the matter to the government.
According to the same statement, Gantz concluded that "Halevi is the most appropriate officer in terms of his extensive operational experience in a variety of theaters of operations, his leadership ability, and his positions on various military issues."
For his part, Lapid described the officer nominated to the chief of staff as a distinguished officer with a wealth of experience and skills, and said in a tweet on Twitter that he was confident that Halevy would lead the Israeli army to many important achievements.
Herzi Halevi was born in occupied Jerusalem in 1967 to a family described as religious. He is married and father of 4 children. He resides in the settlement of "Kfar Ha Oranim" west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
He was enlisted as a paratrooper in 1985, before advancing in various leadership positions to the "Sarit Matkal" unit, which was described as the best elite unit in the Israeli army in 1993.
In 2001, Halevi was appointed commander of the unit and remained in his position for 3 years, and his promotion in the ranks continued in the army until his appointment as head of military intelligence in 2014 and as head of the Southern Command in 2018.
He earned degrees in philosophy and business administration from the Hebrew University of occupied Jerusalem, and a master's degree in resource management from the National Defense University in Washington, according to the Israel Defense Forces.