IDF intel chief tells Katz he didn’t criticize Trump’s Gaza plan, but presented possible risks ‘of the discourse’ on it, as role requires

Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, the head of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, says he clarified to Defense Minister Israel Katz that he did not speak out against US President Donald Trump’s plans to take over the Gaza Strip.

“I spoke with the Defense Minister, and I clarified that I did not speak out against the Trump plan and that the IDF, and therefore I too, are subordinate to the political echelon and will follow its instructions,” Binder says in a statement issued by the military.

“By virtue of my role, I presented the possible implications of the discourse on the subject, the enemy’s view from a security perspective, and recommendations for offensive activity accordingly,” he adds.

This morning, Katz ordered IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi to reprimand Binder for reportedly warning during a closed military assessment that Trump’s plans to move Gazans out of the Strip for it to be rebuilt could result in an escalation of violence in the West Bank.

Last night, Channel 13 news reported that during an assessment on Trump’s plans to move Gazans out of the Strip for it to be rebuilt, Binder warned of potential enemy violence, including an escalation in the West Bank, resulting from the discussion of Trump’s plan. According to the report, he warned specifically about the upcoming holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which tends to be a volatile time of year.

Despite the report by Channel 13 news saying that Binder did not express criticism of the plan and only discussed the potential consequences during the assessment, Katz in a statement said that “there will be no reality in which IDF officers will speak out against US President Trump’s important plan regarding Gaza, and against the directives of the political echelon.”