31 Chapter 4 The Command and Control (C&C) Concept and the IDF's Order of Battle The General Command 1. The General Command is the IDF's supreme command, and it includes the Chief of the General Staff and the General Staff. 2. The General Command is the sole IDF echelon in contact with Israel’s political level. It is the only entity authorized to interpret political directives into military actions. 3. The General Command is the IDF's multi-branch strategic HQ, designated to command and control the IDF use of force, and the force build up. 4. The Chief of the General Staff is the sole operational commander within the IDF. He is the commander of all of operations conducted by the IDF, through the General Command. The General Command is in charge of coordinating and synchronizing all the efforts, including those conducted by the various Principal Commands15 within the war arena and all the operational arenas. 5. The General Command also functions as the supreme operational HQ for the ground forces. 6. The operational resources are at the General Command's disposal, to be allocated to the Principal Commands to carry out their prioritized missions. The General Command shall balance among missions assigned to the Principal Commands. 7. The above General Command’s responsibility shall not be decentralized or transferred to any other principal command. The Chief of the General Staff as the Operational Commander 8. The Chief of the General Staff commands all the IDF's campaigns and determines all efforts and missions assigned to the Principal Commands. He sets up the strategic and operational concepts to attain the missions of the Principal Commands and their interactions. 15 The IDF comprises regional (Northern, Central, Southern, and the Home Front) and vocational commands (Air, Navy, Cyber, Intelligence, Logistics, C4I). All of which shall be referred to hereafter as “Principal Commands”, within the specific context.