Ramatkal
The
Ramatkal (
Hebrew: רמטכ"ל, abbr. of
Rosh
Ma
te
Klali, lit. Head of 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
Lieutenant General in the British or US armies.
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
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
June 5,
2005, the Ramatkal is
Dan Halutz.
*
Yaakov Dori (1947-49)
*
Yigael Yadin (1949-52)
*
Mordechai Maklef (1952-53)
*
Moshe Dayan (1953-58)
*
Chaim Laskov (1958-61)
*
Tzvi Tzur (1961-64)
*
Yitzhak Rabin (1964-68)
*
Chaim 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-)
