Chief of the General Staff (Israel)

The Ramatkal (Hebrew: רמטכ"ל, abbr. of Rosh haMate haKlali (Hebrew: ראש המטה הכללי), lit. Head of the General Staff) is the IDF Chief of the General Staff. Rav Aluf (Hebrew: רב-אלוף) is the rank held by the Ramatkal. It is the highest rank in the IDF, equivalent to the rank of General in the British or US armies (there is no Lieutenant General rank in the IDF, since Rav Aluf is the head of Israel Defense Force).

Legal position

The Ramatkal's position is defined in the Basic Law: The Army (1976), clause three:

• The supreme command rank in the military is that of the Chief of the General Staff
• The Chief of the General Staff is to be placed under the authority of the government and subordinate to the Defense Minister
• The Chief of the General Staff is to be appointed by the government, according to the recommendation of the Defense Minister

Term

The Ramatkal is formally appointed once every three years, with the government often extending the term to four years, and in some occasions, even five. As of January 22, 2007, the Ramatkal is Gabi Ashkenazi.

List of IDF Chiefs of Staff

• Yaakov Dori (1947-49)
• Yigael Yadin (1949-52)
• Mordechai Maklef (1952-53)
• Moshe Dayan (1953-58)
• Haim Laskov (1958-61)
• Tzvi Tzur (1961-64)
• Yitzhak Rabin (1964-68)
• Haim Bar-Lev (1968-72)
• David Elazar (1972-74)
• Mordechai Gur (1974-78)
• Rafael Eitan (1978-83)
• Moshe Levi (1983-87)
• Dan Shomron (1987-91)
• Ehud Barak (1991-95)
• Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1995-98)
• Shaul Mofaz (1998-2002)
• Moshe Ya'alon (2002-05)
• Dan Halutz (2005-2007)
• Gabi Ashkenazi (2007- )