In latest clash, Katz blocks Zamir’s promotion of officer involved in anti-government protests

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday he will not approve the promotion of a senior reserves officer, citing his apparent involvement in the Brother in Arms protest group, after the military included the officer in a late-night announcement Thursday of a round of senior appointments.

It was the latest incident in several clashes between Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

The list, announced by Zamir shortly before midnight, included two officers promoted to brigadier general, 28 promoted to colonel, and one brigadier general and nine colonels who are moving to new positions at the same rank.

Col. (res.) German Giltman, who retired from the IDF in 2022, was set to be promoted to brigadier general and return to the military to serve in a senior role in the Ground Forces.

Giltman later said he was withdrawing his candidacy for a position, “in light of the publications and the turmoil that has developed around his appointment.”

His promotion and appointment were recommended to Zamir by senior officers, including Operations Division chief Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen, who was the commander of the 162nd Division — and Giltman’s commander — for most of the war, as well as designated Mossad director Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, who served alongside Giltman in the Armored Corps over the years.

Giltman served some 700 days in reserves as a “combat manager” and the chief of staff for the 162nd Division, which operated in the Gaza Strip for many months amid the war.

Born in Zaporizhzhia in the Ukrainian SSR, Giltman joined the IDF Armored Corps in 1991. He later served as commander of the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade and deputy commander of the 162nd Division. His last role in the IDF before retiring in 2022 was military attaché to Russia.

After being released from the IDF, Giltman participated in a Brothers in Arms press conference, a group made up of reserve soldiers that played a key role in mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plans in 2023.

At the event in March 2023, Giltman said: “I have served until today, both in active duty and in the reserves, because of an unwritten contract with the state. I am not willing to serve in a place that is not a democracy. You are putting us in a dilemma.”

In a statement on Friday morning, Katz said: “Whoever advocates refusal will not serve in the IDF.”

The defense minister said he had informed Zamir that he “categorically rejects” the promotion and appointment of Giltman, whom he claimed was “one of the leaders of Brothers in Arms, who called for refusal to serve in the IDF.”

“Anyone who preaches or encourages refusal will not serve in the IDF and will not be promoted to any position,” he added.

For its part, Brother in Arms issued a statement Friday slamming Katz as the “minister of draft dodging,” pointing its finger at the defense minister for the government’s proposed law to entrench broad exemptions from conscription for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

“Israel Katz, who is pushing a [draft] evasion scheme for tens of thousands of Haredim, dares to disqualify a senior officer with 30 years of dedicated service to the state,” said the group.

“Giltman, who served dozens of days in reserve duty [each year, before the war] and who reported for duty immediately on October 7 — he is Katz’s enemy,” Brothers in Arms said.

“But draft dodgers who declare ‘we will die before we enlist’ — for them, he hands over an evasion scheme. There has never been a defense minister who harmed the country’s security and the fighters’ morale like the minister of draft dodging. Katz does not fight Israel’s enemies — he fights the heroes who defend it,” the protest group added.

Giltman: ‘Someone is misleading the minister’

Giltman on Friday claimed that he was “never part of the Brothers in Arms movement.”

“It seems someone is misleading the minister,” he told Army Radio.

“I was in the Armored Corps Soldiers for the Defense of Democracy movement. I did not call for refusal or for not volunteering,” he said, referring to another protest group.

He said that the press conference that he participated in, in which he was wearing a Brothers in Arms t-shirt, “was of all the reservist movements, and I did not speak there about refusal.”

“Since I was released from the IDF, I have been doing reserve duty, including during the war,” Giltman told the radio station. “I was asked to return to permanent service, and for me, this is an important and moral matter, just as I have acted for the good of the state for 33 years until today.”

“It’s important that the truth come out,” he added.

In the afternoon, he met with Zamir. During their meeting, Giltman “clarified that he never called for refusal of service and that the video that was circulated does not accurately reflect his positions,” the IDF said, referring to a video from the 2023 press conference.

The IDF said that Zamir “reviewed the matter and noted that he will not allow any manifestations of refusal in the IDF, and was pleased to hear that the officer denounces the issue.”

Zamir added that he “values the officer and his significant contribution to the IDF during his regular and reserve service, especially in the two years since the events of October 7,” the army said.

However, the IDF said that Giltman told Zamir that “in light of the publications and the turmoil that has developed around his appointment, he wishes to withdraw his candidacy for the position.”

“Giltman stressed that he will continue to serve in the reserves, as he has over the years, out of deep and principled commitment to the state and to the IDF,” the army said.

The IDF added that Zamir “expressed regret over the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the appointment and reiterated his deep appreciation for the officer’s work and his willingness to continue serving in the reserves.”

Katz had previously said he would not approve any promotions and appointments in the military that are not brought to him beforehand for review.

The defense minister has been engaged in a months-long, escalating campaign against Zamir over senior IDF appointments by selectively promoting officers and denying the appointments of others with whom he apparently does not see eye to eye.

Last month, the two traded barbs publicly after Katz ordered a re-investigation of the military’s external review of its earlier internal probes into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

In response, Zamir accused Katz of political interference and harming the military’s preparedness by freezing senior promotions — which the defense minister must approve — for 30 days.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later met separately with Zamir and Katz to try and defuse the spat, and they have attended security meetings together despite the tensions.