Israeli Defense Minister approves new top brass posts

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday evening sanctioned a series of new appointments in the General Staff decided by military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the military said in a statement on Monday. Maj. Gen. Shlomo (Sami) Turgeman, head of the Ground Forces Command, has been named as the next chief of the Southern Command, said the statement. He will take over the post from Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, who earlier on Sunday announced that he will be retiring after 35 years in uniform. Russo, an officer highly esteemed by his colleagues at General Staff headquarters in Tel Aviv, headed Operation Pillar of Defense last November to halt incessant rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. He is also said to have played a pivotal role in planning and executing the construction of a recently completed security fence along Israel's western border with Egypt. His decision to retire comes after he was passed over for the post of the army's second-in-command, losing out last week to Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot. Turgeman, who will assume command of the increasingly sensitive southern sector in the coming weeks, previously headed the Armored Corps and Operations Division. He will be succeeded at the helm of the Ground Forces Command by Brig. Gen. Guy Tzur, who currently heads the army's Planning Directorate. Tzur's promotion was delayed for several years in the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon war. A state probe committee sharply criticized his performance as a division commander during the month-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. In his new posting, Tzur, who will receive the rank of Maj. Gen. , will oversee the army's ongoing preparations for another possible war in Lebanon, as well as a future ground operation in Gaza, according to the Ynet news website.