Israel names new army deputy chief of staff

Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak announced a new army deputy chief of staff, Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, who will replace outgoing Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh, the army source told Xinhua on Monday. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Benny Gantz recommended Eizenkot to the post, after the latter turned down the role in the summer of 2010 after the "Galant document" scandal, in which former IDF senior officer, Boaz Harpaz, forged a document meant to affect the choice of former chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi 's successor. However, a review by senior officers of Eizenkot's minor role in the affair cleared his name, allowing him to remain in the running for the second most important role in the IDF. Eizenkot, 52, began his career in the Golani Mountain Brigade, and worked his way up the ranks, taking on the top role in the northern unit in 1997. After the military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, he headed up the IDF's Northern Command. Eizenkot, a married father of five, has a BA in history from Tel Aviv University and was a graduate of the Military and Security College in the U.S., the army said in a statement.