PM appoints new military secretary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Col. Avi Blot on Tuesday as his military secretary, the IDF announced.

Blot, the former head of the IDF Commando Brigade, will be promoted to brigadier general. He will replace Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano who has served in the position for the past three years and has been appointed commander of the Gaza Division.

The military secretary acts as the prime minister’s senior IDF adviser on national security matters, overseeing the exchange of information and decisions between the army and prime minister.

The role is often seen as a stepping stone to more senior positions.

The appointment of the military secretary took close to a year. During that time Toledano couldn’t leave and take his job as the head of the Gaza Division.

Blot has served as the commander of the army’s Commando (Oz) Brigade since last year. He previously served as Commander of the IDF’s battalion commander’s course and the 551st Brigade reserve paratroopers unit as well as deputy commander of the Maglan reconnaissance unit in the Paratroopers Brigade.

In late June, a number of military documents were stolen from Blot’s vehicle while he was on a field trip with other senior officers.

The military advocate general called for a disciplinary hearing rather than criminal charges after the documents which were accidentally left behind did not contain vital classified information.

The IDF has in the past dismissed officers from their positions for similar incidents as it is a violation of army regulations to leave classified documents unsupervised.

Blot grew up in the West Bank settlement of Halamish and attended the Eli pre-army mechina program.

Blot filled a vacancy in Netanyahu’s office but there still are several more.

Netanyahu’s political advisor, Omri Akunis, announced his resignation on Tuesday after a year and a half on the job. Netanyahu is also looking for a new director general for the prime minister’s office, in place of Eli Groner, who left last month. The prime minister has not had a media advisor in several months, and his foreign affairs advisor Dr. Jonathan Schachter left two months ago.