IDF chief orders major bolstering of troops in West Bank due to escalated tensions

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Thursday morning that he had ordered a major bolstering of troops in the West Bank in light of recent tensions in the territory, as well as demanding that the treasury supply the military with additional funds.

“Many challenges lie ahead of us. We are advancing battle procedures on all fronts, from Iran and Lebanon to Gaza, and are on high alert in the face of multi-front volatility,” he said during an assessment with the Israel Defense Forces’ top brass.

Zamir said that because of the tensions in the West Bank and the upcoming Jewish holiday period, he was ordering the headquarters of a standing army division to be put on standby to reinforce troops in the area if required. A standing army division normally has tens of thousands of troops.

Normally, the West Bank has two divisions — the Judea and Samaria Division responsible for most of the territory and the 96th “Gilad” Division, tasked with the Jordan border.

“Beyond that, preparations must be made for the immediate deployment of units and battalions to reinforce the area,” he said.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated sharply in recent months, mostly involving settler attacks on Palestinians, though there have also been several attacks by Palestinian assailants on Israelis. Critics accuse the IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of condoning or even encouraging the violence by Israelis against Palestinians.

The most senior IDF officer in the West Bank reportedly warned during a closed-door security assessment on Monday that mounting settler violence could ignite a broader escalation in the territory.

On Tuesday, far-right MK Zvi Sukkot smashed a monument to Palestinian “martyrs” in a West Bank village while accompanied by IDF troops.

In Thursday’s assessment, Zamir said that the entire IDF, “across all its branches, will remain on full, multi-front readiness during the holiday period” and that there will be no reduction in forces.

IDF says contending with ’empty coffers’

Turning to other matters, Zamir said that “unfortunately, these days we are also engaged in a battle over the budget.”

“At a time when the IDF and its personnel are stretched across all fronts, we must contend with ’empty coffers.’ Such a situation harms the IDF’s readiness,” he claimed.

Zamir said the IDF is “engaged in defending the security of the State of Israel; this is the only consideration.”

“We will not be dragged into issues that could divert our focus and readiness,” he added.

The Finance Ministry later responded to Zamir’s remarks, saying it was “fully committed to the military effort and has funded all of the military’s operations on all fronts, amounting to hundreds of billions, in accordance with the needs of the defense establishment, and continues to do so.”

The treasury said that the defense budget had tripled within two years, and that “there is no agreement that the Finance Ministry has failed to uphold.”

“The heads of the defense establishment must heed the calls urging them to take seriously the billions of shekels spent every year, so that they are used for the security of the state efficiently and with responsible management,” the ministry added.

Zamir’s remarks also came amid a clash between the IDF chief of staff and the treasury over the freezing of ex-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s pension.

In May, Zamir formally ousted Tomer-Yerushalmi from service over her involvement in the Sde Teiman leak scandal. At the time, the military said that she would still receive a military pension, but would lose eligibility for a bonus that chiefs of staff normally grant to senior officers upon completing their service.

Ynet reported Thursday that the Finance Ministry’s Accountant General had frozen most of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s pension, contrary to Zamir’s decision, during ongoing criminal proceedings against the former top military lawyer.

In light of that report, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement to the media that Zamir must strip Tomer-Yerushalmi of all her financial benefits.

Katz said that “every possible procedure against the ousted military advocate general must be exhausted, and certainly no decisions should now be made that would ease her situation in light of the possibility of her being convicted in the future and facing the full force of the law — by virtue of the authority vested in you and the policy I am directing as the defense minister responsible for the IDF on behalf of the government of Israel.”

“Immediate steps must be taken to strip ousted military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi of all her financial benefits,” he urged Zamir in the statement sent to reporters by his office.

Military costs have surged as Israel waged costly wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, as well as operations in Yemen, since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, with the military also seeking to significantly expand its forces that were found lacking in preventing the Hamas massacre and subsequent wars.

The state budget that was passed in March, amid the Iran war that began on February 28, already allotted the Defense Ministry a record NIS 143 billion ($45.8 billion), or about 17 percent of the total spending bill.

In July, the Finance Ministry said it had reached an agreement with the Defense Ministry to immediately transfer an additional NIS 15 billion ($5.01 billion) in budget funds for the military amid claims by the IDF that it was on the verge of grounding an array of units.