Senior defense officials: Katz is ‘politicizing the army’ in spat with IDF chief – report

Senior defense officials accuse Defense Minister Israel Katz of working to “politicize the army” in his spat with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Army Radio reports.

Katz has lashed out publicly at Zamir, claiming the IDF chief worked with anti-government “pot-stirrers” to improperly change the military’s hiring process.

The remarks reported by Army Radio, which it attributes to “a number of senior officials in the defense establishment,” reject that claim and say Zamir acted appropriately.

“The defense minister is trying to politicize the army and IDF officers,” the station reports the officials saying. “No prior defense minister did this so blatantly. IDF appointments need to be made according to the chain of command and the command hierarchy.”

The officials reportedly go on to say that if a commander “knows the defense minister or [the right-leaning] Channel 14 are the ones who appointed him, what is he supposed to think?”

Katz’s stance is “likely to have broad implications for the whole career officer corps,” the officials say. “Appointment of officers by the minister could turn the IDF into a police force.”

The officials also claim Katz’s attack is motivated by his disagreements with Zamir over ultra-Orthodox enlistment and the planned conquest of Gaza City. It says Zamir does not intend to resign because of those arguments.