IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott has authorized the appointment of Israel Air Force Brigadier-General Tzvika Fairaizen as the military’s next Chief Education Officer. Interestingly, the appointment of a member of the kippa sruga community comes at the height of tensions between the religious community and the IDF.

Current Chief Education Officer Brigadier-General Avner Paz-Tzuk, who has been under attack by the religious community for his pluralistic views, will be stepping down.

During Paz-Tzuk’s tenure IDF Chief Eizenkott took a number of steps that significantly strengthened the Education Corps at the expense of the IDF Rabbinate, including the placement of the Jewish Consciousness Unit under the Education Corps, taking it from the Rabbinate.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: IDF Spokesman Unit)