A very senior political source told us at the end of the week that Finance Minister Smotrich is using the delay in the purchase of the two new aircraft squadrons from the USA as a lever to shape the senior officers in the IDF according to political codes. Meir Gurno on the new danger to the People's Army.

By Meir Gurno our commentary on military and security matters

The words of the very senior political source quoted above in the abstract, coincide with the words of the Minister of Finance on the eve of the elections according to which he has a lot of work to do in appointing officers to the IDF. According to the source, this work is now taking place in full force, and Smotrich is using the procurement of combat equipment for the IDF for politicization of the IDF. For the time being, Minister Yoav Galant is trying to prevent Minister Smotrich from interfering in the appointment of officers in the IDF, but Smotrich's political power over Benjamin Netanyahu is decisive, and may also overwhelm Galant's attempts to keep the army out of the political discourse. Galant's success of course depends on how necessary he is In the Netanyahu government. If Smotrich brings Netanyahu to choose between Gallant and himself, the process of politicization of the IDF may deepen. Also, the assumption that Gallant aspires to the Likud leadership, and he may need the power of the extreme parties, may soften his opposition in the future.

These are the words of the very senior political source: "Minister Bezalel Smotrich is taking the country to ruin. Since the elections, he controls the defense budgets, and does not release budgets unless he has a hand in appointments in the IDF." The process of politicizing the IDF is a continuation of the process of assimilating right-wing ideologues as journalists in the Israeli press, ideologues who judge the events from the framework of their political beliefs, thereby disrupting the objective reading of the military-political reality. And the process is the continuation of the attempt to politicize the judicial system, an attempt which resulted in the appointment of a number of judges whose political views were a major key to their selection. We do not know if the effect of these appointments will be as profound on the courts as it is, in our estimation, on the Israeli press.