Major General Gadi Eizenkot will be appointed as the next Chief of Staff of the IDF, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon decided on Friday.

An official announcement about the appointment is expected to be published on Saturday night, following the conclusion of the Sabbath.

Eizenkot, 54, has served over the past two years as Deputy Chief of Staff. He was originally assigned to the Golani Brigade, which he himself eventually commanded from 1997 to 1998.

In 1999 Eizenkot was selected to be the Military Secretary for the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense under then Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He later commanded the 366th Division and the Judea and Samaria Division. He was promoted to head of Israeli Operations Directorate in June 2005.

In October 2006, Eizenkot became head of the Northern Command, replacing Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, who resigned amid criticism over his conduct in the Second Lebanon War.

Eizenkot will replace the current Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, in February.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)