In escalating clash, IDF chief accuses defense minister of harming military’s preparedness

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir hits back at Defense Minister Israel Katz, after Katz ordered a re-investigation of the military’s review of its internal probes into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Zamir also accuses Katz of harming the military’s preparedness by freezing promotions in the IDF for 30 days.

The chief of staff, in a statement, says he was informed of Katz’s moves this morning via the media, while he was at a snap drill in the Golan Heights.

Zamir says that the report prepared by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman and other former senior officers regarding October 7 “was defined from the outset for the chief of staff’s use, to examine the quality of investigations and integrative lessons-learned processes in the IDF, and not for political use.”

He defends the report and calls Katz’s decision “puzzling.” He says Turgeman’s team “heard more than hundreds of testimonies, conducted in-depth examinations, and carried out a professional process.”

“An alternative 30-day review by the defense establishment comptroller, without detracting from his dignity, is not relevant,” Zamir says, after Katz announced that Defense Establishment Comptroller Brig. Gen. (res.) Yair Volansky would submit a review of Turgeman’s report within a month.

“The IDF is the only body in the country that thoroughly investigated its own failures and took responsibility for them,” Zamir continues.

“If any further review is required to complete the picture, it must take the form of an external, objective, and independent committee” that will look into topics including “the interface between the military and political echelons,” he says.

Regarding Zamir’s decision to dismiss officers and censure others over their failures on October 7, something that Katz also ordered Volansky to examine, the chief of staff says, “These are internal command measures within the IDF that do not require approval.”

“The insinuation that the criteria, which were examined with utmost seriousness, are not equal is inappropriate, especially in light of the amount of time and deliberation the chief of staff personally invested in deciding with respect to each and every officer,” Zamir says.

The chief of staff says Katz’s decision to freeze promotions in the IDF for 30 days “harms the IDF’s capability and its readiness process for upcoming challenges.”

Zamir still says that he will “continue conducting staffing discussions as planned, in accordance with his authority, and will forward them to the minister for approval as required.”