Hasn’t the Time Come for the Political Training of Senior IDF Officers?

The Harpaz Affair has revealed one of the worst crises in the history of the relations between the political and military echelons in Israel. Despite the great interest in the affair, one crucial aspect of the relations between then-Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and then-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has been ignored: the battle between the two over the “general headquarters” section of the IDF Supreme Command orders, which sets forth the status of the Defense Minister vis-à-vis the IDF Chief of Staff and reflects who is head of the military. This is a struggle on the very principles determining the relations between the political echelon and the subordinate military echelon. While the reasons for the recurring crises between the two echelons are generally known and various plans for correcting the situation have been devised, systematic steps to rectify the situation have yet to be taken. What are the reasons for preferring ambiguity in defining the relations between the two? Whose interest does this ambiguity serve, and to what end?