כיכר השבת

Correction: Rassan Alian did not request to step down

Contrary to briefings by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), he did not “request to step down”, rather, the decision to end his term was made by the Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense, and he will soon be replaced. For several months, the identity of Major General Rassan Alian’s successor has been under consideration, but no final decision has yet been made. He was going to finish his role regardless, with or without a “request,” which in any case wasn’t necessary. Once Maj. Gen. Alian concludes his service in the IDF in the near future, there will no longer be a Druze representative in the IDF General Staff — at a particularly sensitive time in the relationship between the state and the Druze community. The two leading candidates to replace him as COGAT are: Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, currently head of the Civil Administration and former Chief Armored Corps Officer. Brig. Gen. Guy Markizano, currently the military secretary to Defense Minister Katz.