Free Republic

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will wait to see in which direction the diplomatic process is headed before giving the IDF a green light to implement the expanded ground operation the security cabinet approved at the end of a tense, six-hour meeting Wednesday, senior sources in the Prime Minister's Office said. According to these officials, the waiting period would be "very short." The security cabinet, by a vote of 9-0 with three abstentions, approved plans to expand the IDF ground operation to the Litani, which at some points is 30 kilometers from the border, in order to take out the Katyusha...

As head of the IDF Northern Command, Udi Adam was responsible for several failures during the first two weeks of the fighting – beginning with the kidnapping, to the daylight attack on Maroun al-Ras and the mumbled rescue attempt, to a general impression that he has conducted himself more like a building contractor or a firefighter putting out fires, rather than a general who can initiate and lead. At least that's the impression he's given several colleagues and senior officers under his command. It has appeared to them that General Adam was hurt by hinted criticism from Chief of Staff...

Five days into the 1973 Yom Kippur War, chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. David "Dado" Elazar decided to replace OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen with former chief of General Staff Haim Bar-Lev. The decision was reported to have been made as a result of Gonen's poor response to the Egyptian attack and his actions in the first days of fighting. OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam has not been dismissed from his position and was told Tuesday that he would continue directing the current war in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz's decision to appoint...

Jerusalem - Israel named a new top commander for its Lebanon war effort on Tuesday, effectively demoting another general after criticism of the army's handling of the four-week-old offensive. The military said in a statement that Major General Moshe Kaplinsky, a veteran of previous Lebanon campaigns, was named "to co-ordinate the Israeli army's operations in Lebanon". Israeli commentators saw the move as effectively pushing aside General Udi Adam, head of northern command, at a time when some Israelis are asking why the region's mightiest army has failed to halt Hezbollah rocket fire after 28 days of fighting. Channel Two television...

Mar. 13, 2003 Paratroopers kill five Palestinian fugitives near Jenin (UPDATE) By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF IDF paratroopers killed five Palestinian fugitives in the area of Tamoun near Jenin on the West Bank Thursday. OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky said the men were all high on Israel's wanted list. Kaplisnky added that Thursday's operation was meant to prevent a planned attack. While approaching a militant hideout, soldiers were fired on and returned fire, killing five. Troops clamped a curfew on Tamoun, near the Palestinian city of Nablus. The army said soldiers found an explosives belt apparently meant for...