国际英语新闻：Israeli defense minister names new army chief

JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) southern command chief, Major-General Yoav Galant, was chosen on Sunday as the next army chief of staff, after Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi who was expected to step down in February 2011.

"It is the right move in order to bring stable functioning back to the army's senior echelon," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced his decision of the 20th army chief.

Barak said he would bring the decision for government approval at the next cabinet session. "Because of the present situation, we have to quickly implement the decision," Barak told member of the Israeli cabinet, where he made the statement at the weekly Sunday morning session.

Barak may have been referring to grave Israeli concerns over Iranian nuclear aspirations. Israel and the international community are concerned that Iran could use fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plants to make nuclear weapons. Israeli leaders have called the Iranian nuclear weapon an existential danger to the Jewish state, and both Israel and the United States have said they would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

As also, the decision on the timing of the announcement of the new army chief came amid a political intrigue over an apparent forgery called the "Galant Document." The imbroglio hit the headlines on Aug. 6, when Israel Channel 2 television exposed a document -- allegedly written by a high-end public relations and strategic adviser -- which purportedly laid out a smear campaign against Ashkenazi and other senior officials.