Eisenkot to get security briefing from Netanyahu's military secretary

Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is due to receive a security briefing from the military secretary of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, several Israeli news outlets reported on Thursday morning. Ynet carried the item as a breaking alert, and political commentator Amit Segal wrote that Eisenkot had been told he would be briefed later the same day.

According to News.co.il, the officer giving the briefing is Major General Guy Markizano, who serves as the prime minister's military secretary. Both News.co.il and Segal described the decision as coming in the wake of an exchange of words, without saying who took part in it or what was said.

What a military secretary does

The prime minister's military secretary is a serving general assigned to the head of government's office. The post acts as the main channel between the prime minister and the military and security establishment, and the officer who holds it handles the flow of security information to the prime minister. A briefing from that office to a figure outside it is therefore an arrangement made through the prime minister's own staff, rather than through the army's general command.

Who Gadi Eisenkot is

Eisenkot led the IDF as chief of staff before entering politics, and he has since been one of the more prominent security voices outside Netanyahu's governing camp. That background is why a briefing for him from the prime minister's office draws attention: it involves the sharing of security information across political lines.

How the reports differ

The four outlets agree on the core fact, that Eisenkot is to be briefed by Netanyahu's military secretary, but they differ in their certainty and in what they say prompted it.

• Timing and firmness: Segal and News.co.il said the briefing would take place that day. N12, citing its correspondent Yaron Avraham, said Eisenkot was expected to receive a security update, a more cautious formulation that does not fix a time.
• What led to it: Segal and News.co.il linked the briefing to an exchange of words. N12 linked it instead to a report aired on its news broadcast, without describing that report.
• Who will brief him: Only News.co.il named Major General Guy Markizano; the other outlets referred to the prime minister's military secretary without naming him.

Ynet's alert gave only the headline fact and did not address either the timing or the background.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports describes the exchange of words or the broadcast item that preceded the decision, or names who was involved. None says what subjects the briefing will cover, whether Eisenkot requested it, or whether he has received such briefings before. No statement from the Prime Minister's Office, from Eisenkot or from the IDF has been reported, and there is no report yet on whether the briefing has taken place.