Israel appoints Herzi Halevi as new military chief

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Major General Herzi Halevi was appointed Israel´s new military chief of staff on Monday, in a ceremony hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We will prepare the army for war on fronts near and far,” Halevi vowed at the ceremony, at the start of his three-year term. A former military intelligence chief, Halevi was serving as deputy to his predecessor, Aviv Kohavi, until taking the helm.

Netanyahu said Israel will not get dragged into “pointless wars, but on decisive days we will fight.” The appointment of Halevi, who led forces along the Gaza border, comes as violence surges in the occupied West Bank. The army operates alongside other Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.