Jerusalem – Israel has appointed a plain-speaking combat veteran to command the war in Lebanon after a 30-year career mostly focused on fighting Hezbollah guerrillas.
In a sudden shake-up, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski was inserted over the head of Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, the commander of the northern front, as the senior battlefield officer.
Military analysts said Adam was seen as too cautious to score a decisive victory over Hezbollah.
By sidelining Adam, Israel’s military and political leadership also may have tried to answer critics of the army’s failure to stop the relentless rocketing of northern Israel despite a month of fighting.
While Adam’s military roots are in the Armored Corps, the 49-year-old Kaplinski’s background in the infantry may be more suited to a ground offensive, especially in view of Hezbollah’s recent success with anti-tank missiles.
In 1976, Kaplinski enlisted in the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit based in northern Israel with a proud history of battle with Syria and with irregular forces in Lebanon.
He was commander of the brigade’s reconnaissance unit in 1982, the year Israel invaded Lebanon to drive out the PLO and pushed all the way to the southern outskirts of Beirut. Kaplinski was wounded early in the fighting but returned to the war later; Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years.
Kaplinski – often called Kaplan for short – was a close associate of Ariel Sharon and was appointed his military secretary after Sharon, a former general, became prime minister in 2001.
He was considered the leading candidate to succeed Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz as chief of staff, but the promotion was thrown into doubt after Sharon suffered a devastating stroke in January and new elections were held.
Kaplinski is described as warm but tough, nonchalant and less than a stickler for pressed dress and military bearing.
“People always describe him as a charismatic teddy bear,” said Amos Harel, a military correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Kaplinski is good at “cutting down tensions around him and backing officers who are lower ranking,” Harel said.
Some analysts wondered whether he will be able to work with Adam. There is “no room for two generals,” wrote Alex Fishman in the Yedioth Aharonot daily.
The appointment came Tuesday night. Hours later, Israel’s security cabinet approved a major expansion of the military operation in Lebanon, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later decided to put the campaign on hold.
