In 1st moves as IDF chief, Zamir orders recheck of Oct. 7 probes, dissolves Iran unit
New chief of staff appoints new chiefs of Southern Command, Operations Directorate; announces formation of new tank brigade; will place photos of hostages in office until all home
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Hours after entering the role, new Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met Wednesday evening with the IDF’s top brass, announcing a series of dramatic decisions, including appointing an external panel of experts to reevaluate the military’s probes into the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, as well as closing the IDF’s Iran directorate and forming a new tank brigade.
During the meeting with the IDF General Staff Forum — made up of the military’s top generals as well as some civilian members — Zamir stated that 2025 would be “a year of war” with a focus on the Gaza Strip and Iran, while “preserving the achievements and deepening them in other arenas.”
Zamir told the generals that returning the hostages held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip is “a moral duty,” and the IDF would act to return all of them home. Zamir decided to place the photos of the hostages in his office until they are returned.
The new IDF chief announced the beginning of a new multi-year plan for the military, the planning of which was to start in the second half of this year.
Zamir also made two senior appointments in the military, which were approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, the former head of the Personnel Directorate, was appointed as the next chief of the Southern Command.
He will replace Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, who announced his resignation over Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, the commander of the 162nd Division, was appointed as the next head of the Operations Directorate.
Cohen, who led his division for 15 months in fighting in the Gaza Strip, will be promoted to the rank of major general. He will replace Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, who also announced his resignation.
Meanwhile, Zamir appointed Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, a former head of the Southern Command, to head a panel that will examine the IDF’s October 7 investigations and draw conclusions and lessons that could be implemented. The team will present its findings to Zamir in the coming months.
Zamir said the IDF would also work in “transparency and in full cooperation” with any external investigatory body. His predecessor, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, in his parting speech earlier on Wednesday, called for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 onslaught.
In additional decisions, Zamir decided his deputy. Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai would also serve as “chief of force build-up.”
Zamir also ruled to close the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate — which is tasked with the military’s Iran file — within the coming month and disperse its responsibility among other units, while “improving effectiveness in addressing Iran, foreign relations and strategy.”
The top-level unit was established only in 2020, by former chief of staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Aviv Kohavi, and had come under criticism by some military analysts.
The IDF chief additionally instructed to evaluate shuttering the General Staff Corps and instead activating the Ground Forces to act as a corps in emergencies. The General Staff Corps is a unit only activated in wartime, and its role is to operate troops on a tactical level while releasing the regional command to engage in planning and strategy. In reality, the General Staff Corps is rarely used, and its commander is simultaneously responsible for the IDF’s Training Command.
Zamir, who began his service in the Armored Corps, instructed the formation of a new tank brigade and the evaluation of a new infantry brigade.
He also instructed to reestablish the Armored Corps’ patrol companies, which were shuttered several years ago, as well as evaluate making one of the companies for ultra-Orthodox troops.
Zamir took over earlier Wednesday as the 24th commander of the IDF, replacing Halevi, who resigned over the military’s failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
