Defense Ministry director submits resignation to new chief in latest wartime shakeup
Bureaucratic shuffle, a common move when new ministers enter role, takes on added weight amid ongoing war; former Communications Ministry head tapped to direct Foreign Ministry
The Defense Ministry’s top bureaucratic official submitted his resignation Monday, the ministry said, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially replaced defense chief Yoav Gallant.
Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir, a former major general, told new Defense Minister Israel Katz Monday that he was seeking to leave the post in the near future, according to a ministry statement.
Katz asked Zamir to stay on for now, with Israel fighting wars on its southern and northern borders and increasingly tangling with Iran.
“At the request of the defense minister, it was agreed that at this time the director general will continue in his position,” the statement read.
Ministries regularly shuffle top officials for the arrival of new bosses, who often prefer to appoint their own people to senior positions. Monday also saw the Foreign Ministry, where Katz had been minister, replace its director general.
The resignation request came as Katz and Zamir held their first professional meeting since the defense minister position changed hands on Friday.
During the meeting, Zamir briefed Katz on the ministry’s activities over the last year of war “with an emphasis on ensuring the IDF’s endurance over the course of the continuing multifront war,” the ministry said. The two also discussed the independence of Israeli manufacturing, the statement noted, possibly referring to the army’s ability to remain supplied in the face of threatened arms embargoes.
Gallant was fired by Netanyahu last week in a move the premier said was due to a lack of mutual trust during wartime.
The prime minister said that the two disagreed on the management of the war, and that Gallant had made statements and taken actions that contradicted cabinet decisions. He also accused Gallant of indirectly aiding Israel’s enemies.
In a speech following his firing, which set off angry protests by Netanyahu critics, Gallant said he was dismissed due to disagreements about conscription of the ultra-Orthodox, hostage negotiations with the Hamas terror group, and the need for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack.
Gallant, a former general in the Israel Defense Forces, had long been in the crosshairs of hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition. A previous attempt to fire him in March 2023, due to opposition to the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, was called off after days of massive street protests.
Zamir, who served as deputy chief of staff in the IDF and was twice considered for the army’s top position, was appointed ministry director by Gallant last year. He had also previously served as Netanyahu’s military secretary.
His decision to step down was reportedly met with surprise by defense officials, with the former general’s experience seen as essential to keeping Israel’s war effort running smoothly amid the shakeup.
Critics have noted that Katz, a career politician, comes into the office with a dearth of security experience, having last served in the army as an enlisted officer nearly 50 years ago. Gallant, in contrast, had drawn on his decades as a senior military officer; like Zamir, he had narrowly missed being appointed IDF chief of staff.
According to the Ynet news site, Zamir is widely respected by senior military officers. He played a key role in building up the IDF over the past year of war and maintained good contacts with US officials, the report said.
There was no immediate indication of who might be tapped to take over the position.
From pot entrepreneur to Foreign Ministry director
Meanwhile, Katz’s former director at the Foreign Ministry, Jacob Blitshtein, is being replaced as incoming minister Gideon Sa’ar settles into his position as Israel’s top diplomat.
Sa’ar said Monday he had appointed Eden Bar Tal, a lawyer and founder of a medical cannabis startup, to take over as the ministry’s director general.
For the past two years, Bar Tal has served as director general of the Second Authority for Television and Radio.
Bar Tal previously served as director general of the Communications Ministry under Moshe Kahlon, and as director general of the Regional Cooperation Ministry under Ofir Akunis.
Both Kahlon and Akunis hailed from Netanyahu’s Likud party, which once counted Sa’ar as a loyal member. Sa’ar, who recently joined Netanyahu’s coalition, currently heads the New Hope party.
Sa’ar said in a statement Monday that he had “no doubt” Bar Tal “is the right candidate to lead the Foreign Ministry in the face of the tremendous challenges ahead.”
Blitshtein was brought into the ministry with Katz at the beginning of the year, and will leave once Bar Tal takes up his post, following confirmation by the Knesset.
Emanuel Fabian and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
