Katz publicly slaps down Zamir for holding discussion on senior military appointments

Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly clashed with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir late Monday over a meeting the top general had on senior appointments in the military.

Before the IDF announced the appointments, a list of the promoted officers was leaked and published by several media outlets, leading Katz to issue a statement slamming the military chief.

Katz said the meeting held by Zamir was conducted “contrary to the defense minister’s directive and without prior coordination and agreement, in violation of established procedure.”

Katz said he had “no intention of discussing or approving any of the appointments or names” that were leaked.

“The chief of staff will be required to coordinate in advance with the defense minister in order to discuss these or other appointments in the future,” he added.

Katz stressed that “The military echelon is subordinate to the defense minister and will act in accordance with his directives and the policy he determines.”

After officially announcing the appointments after midnight, Zamir hit back at Katz with a statement from the IDF saying that the “staffing discussion was scheduled in advance, in accordance with regulations.”

“The chief of staff is the sole authority under regulations for appointing commanders at the rank of colonel and above in the IDF. The chief of staff holds an orderly staffing discussion with the participation of the General Staff forum,” the military said in the statement.

“The chief of staff decides on the appointments, after which the appointment goes to the [defense] minister for approval, who may approve or not approve the appointment,” the IDF added.

Nonetheless, the IDF published the list of promotions.

Normally, senior appointments, aside from those of top generals, are brought to Katz for approval following internal IDF meetings on the matter.

The spat continued Tuesday morning, when Katz issued another statement insisting that he would follow the accepted procedures.

“Since these are joint appointments by the defense minister and the IDF chief of staff, there is an accepted procedure for appointments of ranks colonel and up in the IDF,” Katz said. “No discussion of IDF shakeups is held before the accepted procedure is carried out.”

Katz said he has “clarified to the chief of staff that he needs more time and the discussion must not be held at this time,” adding that he will “weigh whether to promote senior officers on the Gaza front who haven’t served the accepted timeframe for their roles to other roles before the task of defeating Hamas in Gaza has been completed.”

Katz also said he will examine whether to promote officers who served as commanders on the Gaza front during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, or whose names were linked to “irregular incidents in the past.”

“The military echelon is subordinate to the defense minister and will act in accordance with his orders and the policy he will set,” he stressed.

Unnamed military sources cited by several Hebrew media outlets on Tuesday accused Katz of “blackmail” and of treating the army chief as if he were a junior soldier. They alleged that Zamir had attempted for around a month to schedule a meeting with Katz regarding the round of appointments, without success.

According to the Ynet news site, the last such attempt was on Monday, and he was rejected “as if he were ranked corporal, and even though there was no surprise here.”

The Israel Hayom daily cited Katz’s office as claiming Zamir came “by surprise” and was rejected due to scheduling issues and because the army chief requested a 15-minute meeting to discuss the matter, while Katz wants a longer discussion to weigh the appointments. The office also claimed Zamir had only started asking for a meeting on Friday.

A source cited by Ynet claimed that in an act of “unprecedented blackmail,” the issue was being linked by Katz to the government’s demand that the military prepare for the takeover of Gaza City, as approved last week by the cabinet, despite reported objections by Zamir and other top defense officials.

Sources were cited by the outlet as assessing that while Katz was sending out the scathing messages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the one actually behind the barrage.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slammed the government over the fracas, saying that “this is not how you run a country, this is not how you lead an army.”

“In this crazy government, even a basic event like appointing officers in the IDF doesn’t go by without leaks, fights, slander and nighttime announcements,” Lapid said in a statement.

Katz has publicly clashed with Zamir before. The defense minister also repeatedly publicly clashed with Zamir’s predecessor, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, as well as other senior officers, including former IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari and current Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder.

The list announced by Zamir early Tuesday included 14 officers promoted to brigadier general, four promoted to colonel, as well as eight brigadier generals and two colonels who are moving to new positions at the same rank.

The appointments are conditioned on the approval of Katz, the military said.

Many of the promoted officers were commanders of brigades and divisions that took part in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and on other fronts.

Some of the notable appointments included:

Gaza Division chief Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, who will head the Operations Directorate’s Operations Division;

Chief of staff at the Southern Command — including ahead of the October 7 onslaught — Brig. Gen. Manor Yanai, who will be chief of staff at the Ground Forces;

36th Division chief during the war, Brig. Gen. Moran Omer, who will head the Planning Directorate’s Planning Division;

Head of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Operational Operations Division, Brig. Gen. Manny Liberty, who will command the 98th Division;

146th Division commander during the war, Brig. Gen. Yeftah Norkin, who will head the 36th Division;

Tzeelim training base head, Brig. Gen. Eliad Moati, who will command the 210th Division;

7th Armored Brigade commander during the war, Col. Elad Tzuri, who will head the 99th Division;

401st Armored Brigade commander during the war, Col. Beni Aharon, who will command the 146th Division;

Givati Brigade commander during the war, Col. Liron Betito, who will head the Gaza Division;

Bahad 1 officers’ school commander, Col. Eliav Elbaz, who will command the 252nd Division;

Nahal Brigade commander during the war, Col. Yair Zukerman, who will head the Company and Battalion Commanders Course;

Kfir Brigade commander during the war, Col. Yaniv Barot, who will head the Tzeelim training base;

188th Armored Brigade commander during the war, Col. Or Vollozinsky, who will head the Armored Corps;

And Yahalom combat engineering unit commander during the war, Col. Eli David, who will head the Combat Engineering Corps.