1. An important phone call
On Friday, November 16, 2012, Brigadier General Guy Tzur was surprised to receive an urgent phone call from the office of Chief of Staff Bnei Gantz. He was told to arrive at noon at the prime minister’s house on Balfour Street for an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister then ran for several months without a military secretary. Something, someone or someone then delayed the selection of a new secretary general, usually a marginal matter. Netanyahu already had one round of interviews, but was not satisfied (or failed to satisfy Man Dhao) with any of the officers sent for the interview.
Brigadier General Tzur was a little surprised. His call for the prime minister’s residence took place in the midst of Operation Pillar of Cloud, which began two days earlier, with the assassination of Hamas chief of staff Ahmad Jabari in Gaza. The IDF mobilized reserves, the political echelon debated whether to enter ground operations in Gaza, Hamas fired hundreds of rockets at southern settlements and Gush Dan (one hit a house in Kiryat Malachi the day before and killed three civilians), and made its way to Jerusalem.
He arrived at the residence and was told to wait. He waited half an hour (minimum waiting time when it comes to Netanyahu) and then the prime minister arrived. One minute, at most a minute and a half after the meeting began, Ms. Netanyahu arrived and whispered something in her husband’s ear. Netanyahu apologized and left. The lady conducted the interview. The conversation was fluid and was delayed only when it came to the issue of the disengagement, which was carried out by Prime Minister Sharon seven years earlier.
Brigadier General Tzur was one of the officers in charge of the operation. “How could you do that?” Ms. Netanyahu asked. He mumbled something. With Brigadier General, create a few polite words, something like two minutes, and the two parted ways.
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Many senior officials went through this experience with the Netanyahu couple. Called for an interview with him, interviewed with her. The practice is simple: someone, or the lady herself, comes in and informs Netanyahu of an “important phone call.” He gets up and walks away, she sits down in his place. Also in the round of interviews for the Secretary General held during the term of Chief of Staff Izenkot, this pattern was repeated.
Four lieutenants general were summoned for interviews at the Prime Minister’s Office. They were then summoned to a “completion interview” once more, this time in Balfour. They sat with Netanyahu on the patio and each time, a few minutes after the meeting began, Netanyahu was called to an important phone call in the office. In his place, Mrs. Netanyahu arrived and continued the interview quite naturally.
Ben Caspit’s full column – in Maariv-Weekend