From Ynet:
A senior IDF official told Ynet Sunday that "although in a sense Gabi Ashkenazi is coming from outside the system, there's a feeling he's part of us, and that he is the right man for the position of army chief."
Senior IDF officials praised Peretz’s decision to appoint Ashkenazi. “He is familiar with the system, but the fact that he has been out of it for the past two years works in his favor,” one official said.
“He is less obligated, less driven by personal contacts; he is a task-oriented man.
Ashkenazi was a shoo-in for the position, especially with Moshe Kaplinksy withdrawing his candidacy on the grounds that "Winograd Commission had yet to conclude its investigation into the recent war in Lebanon, [and] that it would be ‘inappropriate’ and detrimental to the army's rehabilitation efforts to appoint someone who took part in the war and may be blamed for its failures."