[1] He was previously head of the Israel Defense Forces's Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes the West Bank.

He is a graduate of the US Army's Advanced Infantry Officers Course (Fort Benning, Georgia).

In August 2002, he took over as chief of the Central Command from Major General Yitzhak Eitan.

[2] As head of Central Command, Kaplinski was an ex officio member of the IDF general staff; he oversaw, among other things, area commanders for the northern and southern parts of the West Bank (referred to as Samaria and Judea, respectively).

His previous positions include: On December 8, 2006 Kaplinski told a meeting of mayors and local council leaders that Iran had a nuclear capability that would "threaten not only Israel, but all of Europe.