The New IDF Chief of Staff Faces an

These include a new ministerial position within the Defense Ministry responsible for key aspects of the policies of the IDF Civil Administration, which governs a range of civilian matters in Area C of the West Bank. [...] Those include the regulation of housing permits for both Jews and Palestinians and the enforcement of the demolition of illegal construction. [...] The coalition agreement also reportedly gave Smotrich appointment powers over future commanders of the Unit for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, which implements the government’s and the military’s civilian policies in Area C. [...] Halevi will have his work cut out for him navigating these new arrangements and defending the IDF’s unity of command in the West Bank while keeping himself and the Israeli military out of the political arena. [...] The Palestinian arena and its two sub-arenas, the West Bank and Gaza, are the least stable and most prone to volcanic eruptions of escalation, and each can trigger the other.