General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces

General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
המטה הכללי של צה"ל
Matkal emblem
Founded1948–present
Country Israel
TypeSupreme command
Part of Israel Defense Forces
HeadquartersRabin Camp, Tel Aviv
NicknameMatkal
Commanders
Chief of the General StaffRav Aluf Eyal Zamir
Deputy Chief of the General StaffAluf Tamir Yadai
Insignia
Matkal Flag

The General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces or General Headquarters (Hebrew: המטה הכללי של צה"ל), abbreviated Matkal (מטכ"ל), is the supreme command of the Israel Defense Forces. It is based in the Kirya compound (Rabin Camp) in Tel Aviv.

Members

Honor guard at IDF headquarters for outgoing chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi

The majority of members in the General Staff Forum are officers ranked as Aluf and heads of the following military and civilian bodies:

Chief

Arms

  • Commander of the Ground Forces – Aluf Nadav Lotan
  • Commander of the Air Force – Aluf Tomer Bar
  • Commander of the Navy – Aluf David Saar Salama

Directorates

  • Head of the Operations Directorate – Aluf Itzik Cohen
  • Head of the Military Intelligence Directorate – Aluf Shlomi Binder
  • Head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate – Aluf Rami Abudarham
  • Head of the Personnel Directorate – Aluf Dado Bar Kalifa
  • Head of the Planning Directorate – Aluf Hidai Zilberman
  • Head of the ICT and Cyber Defense Directorate – Aluf Aviad Dagan

Commands

Other

  • Military Secretary to the Prime Minister – Aluf Roman Gofman
  • Military Secretary to the Minister of Defense –Tat-Aluf Guy Markizano
  • Military Secretary to the President – Tat-Aluf Gil Elya
  • Commander of the Military Colleges – Aluf Dan Neumann
  • Commander of the Depth Corps – Aluf Dan Goldfuss
  • Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories – Aluf Yoram HaLevi
  • Commander of the Northern Corps – Aluf Yaki Dolf
  • President of the Military Court of Appeals – Aluf Orli Markman
  • Military Advocate General – Aluf Itay Offir
  • IDF Spokesperson – Tat-Aluf Effie Defrin
  • The Financial Advisor to the Chief of Staff – Tat-Aluf Gil Pinchas
  • Assistant to the Chief of Staff –Aluf-Mishne Alon Laniado
The matkal, hosted in Beit HaNassi by Israeli president Reuven Rivlin in 2018. In the background is an Israeli artwork made of basalt.

Civilian

  • Director-general of the Ministry of Defense – Aluf (Res.) Amir Baram
  • Defense Establishment Comptroller – Tat-Aluf (Res.) Yair Volansky
  • IDF Internal Comptroller – Tat-Aluf (Res.) Ofer Sarig
  • Head of Administration for the Development of Weapons and the Technological Industry – Tat-Aluf (Res.) Daniel (Danny) Gold

References