Chief of the General Staff (Israel)

Chief of the General Staff
ראש המטה הכללי‎
Flag of the Chief of the General Staff
Incumbent Rav Aluf Eyal Zamir since 5 March 2025
Ministry of Defense
Abbreviation	Ramatkal
Member of	General Staff
Reports to	Minister of Defense Government of Israel
Seat	Rabin Camp, HaKirya, Tel Aviv
Nominator	Minister of Defense
Appointer	Cabinet of Israel
Term length	3 years; can be extended by 1 year
Formation	1 June 1947; 77 years ago (1947-06-01)
First holder	Rav Aluf Yaakov Dori
Deputy	Deputy Chief

The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַמַּטֶּה הַכְּלָלִי, romanized: Rosh hamateh haklali, abbreviated Ramatkal—רמטכ"ל‎), is the professional head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The current Chief of the General Staff is Eyal Zamir, having taken office on 5 March 2025.

The Chief of the General Staff is nominated by the government on advice of the Minister of Defense, and serves a three-year term, extendable by one year only.

At any given time, the Chief of the General Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, rav aluf (רַב־אַלּוּף‎), which is usually translated into English as lieutenant general, a three-star rank. The only exception to this rule occurred during the Yom Kippur War, when former Chief of the General Staff Haim Bar-Lev, who was a cabinet member at the outbreak of and during the war, was brought out of retirement and installed as chief of Southern Command.^[1] For a brief period, he and Chief of the General Staff David Elazar were both in active service with the rank of rav aluf.