Ex-IDF chief reportedly slams Mossad director for ‘self-promotion’ over Iran war
Herzi Halevi said to tell confidants that David Barnea is preoccupied with taking credit for operations that were led by the IDF; Katz and Zamir slated to meet Thursday amid spat
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Former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi has reportedly been voicing criticism of Mossad chief David Barnea, accusing him of mishandling operations relating to Iran and of seeking public glory.
According to a Wednesday report on Channel 13 news, Halevi — who stepped down in March over Hamas’s October 7 attack — has made the remarks in private conversations amid a series of meetings he has held with various, unnamed entities.
Most of Halevi’s criticism was directed at how Barnea handled the threat from Iran, the report said. It quoted Halevi as saying that Barnea “didn’t choose the right directions,” in reference to how the spymaster made public some of the Mossad operations in Iran.
“He advised on actions that are not under his authority, and for which he is not responsible for the consequences,” Halevi was quoted as saying. “He is busy with that to the point that he permitted publishing videos from operations in Iran.”
The network cited Halevi as saying that the “head of the Mossad exalts himself, takes credit for events that the IDF led, and concerns himself with self-promotion in a non-collegial manner.”
Israel in June launched a sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program, saying it was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
The effort hinged on tight joint planning between the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad intelligence agency, with forces on the ground striking Iranian surface-to-surface missiles and air defense systems as the campaign began. The Mossad later revealed rare footage showing its actions in Iran.
Footage released by the Mossad shows strikes carried out by commandos of the spy agency on Iranian air defenses in Iran, early June 13, 2025. (Mossad)
The report of Halevi’s attacks on Barnea came amid an ongoing public rift between Defense Minister Israel Katz and current IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Katz on Monday clashed with Zamir over a meeting the top general held on senior appointments in the military, and subsequently slapped down the proposed promotions.
The two men are scheduled to meet face-to-face on Thursday for a routine weekly meeting during which they will discuss plans for the next phase of the war in the Gaza Strip, in which the IDF will aim to conquer Gaza City in an operation that Zamir reportedly opposed but that the government insisted go ahead.
On Wednesday, as Katz continued the spat between them in the public eye, he issued a statement accusing Zamir of acting “perhaps on the recommendation of anti-government advisers stirring the pot.”
After Katz’s statement, unnamed senior defense establishment officials quoted by Army Radio rejected Katz’s claim that the IDF chief was pot-stirring and said Zamir had acted appropriately.
The dispute came after the cabinet last week approved a plan to take over Gaza City — an apparently watered-down version of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intent to take over the entire Strip.
The decision has sparked fierce criticism at home and abroad. Zamir reportedly warned the cabinet that expanding the fighting would endanger the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza and deepen the humanitarian crisis there.
Zamir replaced Halevi in March.
Netanyahu has frequently clashed with Israel’s security chiefs throughout the war in Gaza. The premier’s critics have accused him of seeking to offload onto security heads his own responsibility for failing to avert the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.