New financial adviser to IDF chief sworn in following record defense budget approval

Brig. Gen. Nir Weingold takes office as financial adviser to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and as head of the Budgeting Directorate in the Defense Ministry, replacing Brig. Gen. Gil Pinchas, in a handover ceremony at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Weingold’s appointment comes after the government approved a NIS 350 billion ($111 billion) budget for the defense establishment over the coming decade.

At the ceremony, Defense Minister Israel Katz says the funding – the largest in Israel’s history – is aimed at ensuring “absolute military, technological and operational superiority” in the face of enemies that “openly declare their desire to destroy us.”

Zamir says that amid multifront fighting, budget management has become a key element of military strength, noting that “optimal use of the IDF budget is a core part of the army’s operational capability, ensuring that every need is met with the required resources.”

Pinchas, who oversaw defense spending through the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the ensuing war, says the military failed that day but stresses that the financial corps helped drive Israel’s response.

“We failed profoundly and did not fulfill our duty to defend the State of Israel,” he says, adding that the system later enabled “extraordinary military achievements” while managing “the longest and most expensive war budget in Israel’s history in a professional, responsible and transparent manner.”

“No soldier – on the front line or in support roles – should ever lack what they need,” Weingold says.

He adds that those managing the defense budget must remember they are handling public money and act “with professionalism, integrity, fairness and humility.”