Amid warming ties, Katz meets Zamir and appears to fold on demand for new IDF probes into Oct. 7

Amid apparently warming ties after a clash with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Defense Minister Israel Katz appears to backtrack on his order to re-investigate a review of the military’s internal probes into the failures on October 7.

Katz says he met with Zamir yesterday, during which they agreed to merge the military’s “supplementary investigations” for the initial probes with the minister’s effort to have the defense establishment comptroller conduct a new review.

Last month, Zamir received the findings of an external review of the IDF’s internal October 7 probes led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, who found that some of the initial investigations by the military were inadequate, and also pointed to several topics that were not investigated at all.

Zamir then instructed various IDF units to complete their investigations, and he has also appointed former officers to investigate topics that were not previously probed, chief among them the military’s failed handling of intelligence reports that outlined Hamas’s intent to launch a wide-scale attack against Israel.

Clashing with Zamir last month, Katz ordered the defense establishment comptroller to investigate Turgeman’s review of the internal October 7 probes, and said he was freezing all senior promotions in the military for 30 days.

However, in a statement announcing his meeting with Katz yesterday, the defense minister says that instead of conducting a full review, Defense Establishment Comptroller Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Volansky will only be “an observer” in the IDF’s investigation into the intelligence reports of Hamas’s attack plan, codenamed in the army “Jericho’s Walls.”

Katz says the comptroller will also be updated on the other investigations ordered by Zamir to be completed, after their initial probes were deemed inadequate, including in the Operations Directorate and Israeli Navy.

Additionally, Katz says the comptroller will review the Israeli Air Force’s October 7 investigation and the findings of Turgeman’s team regarding Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler, who served as chief of staff at the IAF on October 7, and who Zamir seeks to promote to IAF commander.

The announcement is the latest thawing in ties between the two top defense officials. On Monday, Katz met with Zamir and approved the IDF chief’s list of promotions in the military, despite announcing an earlier freeze.