Report: Katz refused to meet with Zamir to discuss candidates for senior military positions

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was barred from meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this week to present his candidates for a number of senior military appointments, Hebrew media reports.

According to Channel 12, Zamir contacted Katz on Friday and Saturday to schedule a meeting but the defense minister told him that his schedule was full and so he wouldn’t have time to meet on the matter.

However, after one of Katz’s meetings was canceled on Monday, Zamir walked over to his office to meet with him, only for the defense minister’s secretary to tell him that he was unavailable, the Kan public broadcaster says.

The outlet says that Katz’s office denies this version of events and claims that Katz informed Zamir that he would not be available.

The reports come amid a fresh spat between the defense minister and his military chief, in which Katz publicly accused Zamir of failing to coordinate on the round of senior appointments, which he claimed went against established protocol. The military has countered that the normal course of events is the army holding internal discussions, with the defense minister later approving or rejecting them.