Katz bans IDF top lawyer from key legal event, drawing pushback from chief of staff
Defense minister cites ‘political content’ at Bar Association confab as reason for excluding Military Advocate General; Army says important to publicly justify military operations
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday forbade the Israel Defense Forces’ top lawyer from participating in an upcoming annual conference hosted by the Israel Bar Association, citing concerns that the event would be a platform for “polemical and political content.”
The IDF pushed back against the decision, saying Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had personally approved Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s attendance and stressing the value of the military publicly defending the legality of its war activities.
Katz doubled down despite the Israeli military’s pushback, reiterating his decision to prevent Tomer-Yerushalmi’s participation.
“The authority on this matter lies under my responsibility as defense minister, and accordingly, I have made the decision,” he said, while further claiming that he had informed Zamir of the decision before announcing it publicly.
Earlier Sunday, Katz asserted there is “no place for IDF officers to appear these days on stages with polemical and political content.”
“In this challenging and complex period of political debates and disputes, it is appropriate for the IDF to distance itself as much as possible from public controversies,” he said in his announcement of the prohibition.
He advised it would be better if Tomer-Yerushalmi “dedicates her time to fulfilling her role in the IDF, including completing investigations into issues for which the public expects answers, and providing assistance to IDF commanders and soldiers in refuting domestic and foreign fabrications regarding the conduct of IDF soldiers in the war in Gaza.”
Among those set to participate in the conference are Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman.
The IDF, in a statement, confirmed that Zamir approved Tomer-Yerushalmi’s participation in the conference several days ago, and cited the importance of publicly explaining the IDF’s efforts to uphold international law during the ongoing war.
According to the military, Tomer-Yerushalmi was set to discuss how legal frameworks enable the IDF to fight Hamas while remaining within the bounds of international law.
The IDF added that the Military Advocate General’s office has supported commanders throughout the war to help achieve operational objectives in a lawful manner.
Bar Association head Amit Becher panned Katz, saying he “is a member of a government that is engaged in a systematic boycott of the entire legal system and the dismantling of state institutions.”
He charged that Katz had announced a publicity stunt to promote himself within his own Likud party.
“I suggest that the defense minister deal with security, the release of hostages, equality in the burden [of military service], and reservists, and not public relations announcements for his needs in [potential] primaries,” Becher wrote on X.
At the 2024 Bar Association conference, Tomer-Yerushalmi revealed that some 70 probes had been opened into IDF soldiers relating to service in the Gaza Strip amid the war there.
One of the cases Tomer-Yerushalmi spoke of related to allegations of abuse and torture of Palestinian security detainees at the Sde Teiman military base in the Negev desert. In February, five soldiers were indicted in the case.
Becher, the Bar Association head, has clashed with the government over its controversial and wide-reaching judicial overhaul that prompted months of mass protests in 2023.
In January, the coalition passed a law that enables the justice minister and the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to determine, in part, how the Israel Bar Association may use its funds. Becher was ejected from a Knesset committee meeting about the bill in November after arguing with a coalition MK.
Baharav-Miara, the attorney general, has openly criticized parts of the judicial overhaul, and the government is seeking to fire her, claiming she is too uncooperative with its policies. The coalition is also boycotting Chief Justice Amit, whose nomination it opposed.
Katz and Zamir clashed earlier this year over an investigation into a senior reserves officer for alleged “severe” security violations. The defense minister had issued an instruction to Zamir by way of a statement to the press, which the army chief rejected as inappropriate. The two men later met, after which Katz declared they were “working together in full cooperation for Israel’s security, as it was and as it will always be.”
Katz also repeatedly publicly clashed with Zamir’s predecessor Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, as well as other senior officers, including outgoing IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari and Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder.
The Times of Israel Community.