Ramatkal

Insignia of the Rav Aluf

The Ramatkal (Hebrew: רמטכ"ל, abbr. of Rosh Mate Klali, lit. Head of General Staff) is the IDF Chief of the General Staff. Rav Aluf (Hebrew: רב-אלוף) is the rank held by the Ramatkal. It is the highest rank in the IDF, equivalent to the rank of Lieutenant General in the British or US armies.

Legal position

The Ramatkal's position is defined in the Basic Law: The Army (1976), clause three:

The supreme command rank in the military is that of the Chief of the General Staff
The Chief of the General Staff is to be placed under the authority of the government and subordinate to the Defense Minister
The Chief of the General Staff is to be appointed by the government, according to the recommendation of the Defense Minister

Term

The Ramatkal is formally appointed once every three years, with the government often extending the term to four years, and in some occasions, even five. As of June 5, 2005, the Ramatkal is Dan Halutz.

List of IDF Chiefs of Staff

Yaakov Dori (1947-49)
Yigael Yadin (1949-52)
Mordechai Maklef (1952-53)
Moshe Dayan (1953-58)
Chaim Laskov (1958-61)
Tzvi Tzur (1961-64)
Yitzhak Rabin (1964-68)
Chaim Bar-Lev (1968-72)
David Elazar (1972-74)
Mordechai Gur (1974-78)
Rafael Eitan (1978-83)
Moshe Levi (1983-87)
Dan Shomron (1987-91)
Ehud Barak (1991-95)
Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1995-98)
Shaul Mofaz (1998-2002)
Moshe Ya'alon (2002-05)
Dan Halutz (2005-)

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