On Tuesday, January 15, 2019, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi assumed his position as the 22nd IDF Chief of Staff. From a security perspective, his tenure begins in a stormy, unstable period, when the IDF’s strategic and operational environment continues to be marked by vast uncertainty.

According to Israeli law, the Chief of Staff holds the supreme command rank in the IDF, and is under the authority of the government and subordinate to the Minister of Defense. However, this brief (and vague) definition does not reflect the enormous scope of the position and its complexity. The IDF Chief of Staff is a national figure with a unique role that likely has no counterpart in other countries. The job requires the ability to take a broad strategic view – regional and global – of the war theater, as well as an operational, meta-branch view of the various particular arenas. His main tasks are to direct the military as it takes on the challenges of the present and build up the military force that will ensure readiness and fitness for future challenges. These must occur while managing the current and emerging risks and maintaining public trust in the IDF.

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