Report: New IDF chief tells families of hostage soldiers they are his top priority
Relatives tells Eyal Zamir they feel they can rely more on foreign governments than Jerusalem to bring back loved ones
New IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met with families of hostage soldiers Friday morning, two days after taking office as the 24th head of Israel’s army.
According to Channel 13 news, the father of hostage Tamir Nimrodi said it was “sad that we have to rely on foreign governments to bring our children back more than we can rely on the State of Israel.”
The mother of hostage Matan Angrest said: “We feel that the State of Israel is leaving soldiers and fallen troops behind, while there is an American commitment to bringing them back.”
According to Channel 12, another relative told Zamir: “Do you understand that returning to combat may endanger their lives? You have an obligation to the soldiers — you were the ones who placed them there.”
Channel 13 cited Zamir as telling the parents that bringing the hostages back was “my highest duty, and it is my top priority. If, God forbid, I finish my tenure without bringing everyone back — I have failed in my mission.”
In his first speech as IDF chief Wednesday, Zamir said: “The task that I am receiving today is clear: to lead the IDF to victory.”
“I receive command of the IDF today, modestly and with humility. On October 7, the border was breached, and our enemies infiltrated our communities. Out of the crisis, the people of Israel rose and again proved their power in the moment of truth,” he said.
“The IDF has achieved impressive achievements on the battlefield. We won battles in Gaza and Lebanon, we struck far away in Yemen and Iran. Hamas received a heavy blow, but it has not yet been defeated. The mission has not yet been completed,” he said.
Addressing the families of hostages, Zamir said, “Your loved ones are before my eyes. Our moral duty is clear: Bring everyone back home, in any way possible and as quickly as possible.”
Hours after entering the role, Zamir met Wednesday evening with the IDF’s top brass, announcing a series of dramatic decisions, including appointing an external panel of experts to reevaluate the military’s probes into the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, as well as closing the IDF’s Iran directorate and forming a new tank brigade.
During the meeting with the IDF General Staff Forum — made up of the military’s top generals as well as some civilian members — Zamir stated that 2025 would be “a year of war” with a focus on the Gaza Strip and Iran, while “preserving the achievements and deepening them in other arenas.”
Zamir told the generals that returning the hostages held by Hamas was “a moral duty,” and the IDF would act to return all of them home. Zamir decided to place the photos of the hostages in his office until they are returned.
Emmanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
