IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said on Sunday that the army's "Strategy and Iran Directorate" will be renamed the "Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate," to indicate that the countries comprising Israel's "third-circle" periphery, and not just Iran, are under its purview.
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In the coming days, the IDF's Planning Directorate will be split into two different branches in the General Staff: the multi-branch Force Buildup Directorate, commanded by Brig. Gen. Tomer Bar, and the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate, commanded by Brig. Gen. Tal Kalman. Bar and Kalman, who both hail from the Israel Air Force, will be promoted in the coming days to the rank of major general.
These changes fall within the framework of Kochavi's multi-year plan, "Momentum," which is already underway despite the fact that the political echelon has yet to approve a national budget.
IDF officials have said in the past that the General Staff was restructured in such a manner because the army expects the Iranian threat to be a top priority in the coming years. Army officials have also explained that the change was implemented so that every morning a general staff commander will wake up with the sole mission of contending with Iran.
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