ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer
The cabinet is expected to approve the appointment of Major General Gadi Eisenkot as the next chief of staff of the Israel Defence Force on Sunday.
Maj-Gen Eisenkot, 54, is currently the deputy chief of staff and served most of his 36-year army career as a combat officer in the Golani infantry brigade.
The current chief of staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, will be stepping down in February.
Four years ago, when Lt-Gen Gantz was appointed, the expectation among many in the IDF was that he would lead a strike against Iran's nuclear installations. Both he and Maj-Gen Eisenkot were opposed to such an operation, and the latter even wrote to the prime minister urging against it. The fact that Maj-Gen Eisenkot has now been promoted to the IDF's top job strengthens the belief that such an attack is no longer on the cards.