Following several days of acerbic exchanges with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Thursday that “victory on the battlefield” necessitates cooperation between the army and the political leadership, not just military prowess.
“Mutual trust and full cooperation are the key to success. Victory on the battlefield does not depend only on military strength, but also on inter-echelon cohesion,” Zamir said. “Only in this way will we ensure victory, and also the resilience of the state on the day after.”
“At any time, but especially during wartime, the connection between the political echelon and the military echelon is a central axis for national security,” he continued, speaking at a handover ceremony for the head of the IDF’s Military Colleges.
The top general made the remarks following a meeting he held with Katz and other military and defense officials, in which they discussed plans to capture Gaza City. The two publicly rowed earlier this week over senior IDF appointments, the latest friction between Zamir and government ministers.
The IDF chief earlier this month came under fire from several in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet after he reportedly objected to the government’s plans to capture Gaza City, though he has since greenlit them.
Zamir added that the IDF’s ongoing offensive in Gaza “will lead to the collapse of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities” and that “the campaign will end when we can ensure our security and our future.”
At the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Dan Noyman took over as head of the Military Colleges from Maj. Gen. Nimrod Aloni, a longtime servicemember set to retire after nearly four decades.
Katz held a meeting with Zamir earlier Thursday during which he was “presented with the principles of the plan to implement the cabinet’s decision to take control of Gaza City,” according to a statement from the defense minister’s office.
The minister was quoted in the statement as saying that “the State of Israel is determined to defeat Hamas in Gaza, release all the hostages, and bring the war to an end.”
“The IDF is mobilizing all forces and preparing with great strength to implement the cabinet’s decision. We will act as one fist until the mission is completed,” he added.
On Monday, Katz had slammed the military chief for making senior IDF appointments, claiming Zamir announced them without consulting him, and subsequently shot down the proposed promotions.
Katz ratcheted up the spat Wednesday in what his office dubbed a “clarification,” in which he vowed to keep military staffing decisions under his close watch. “After the events of October 7, there is no longer an army without supervision,” he said.
The minister claimed that his authority to approve promotions from the ranks of colonel and above is enshrined in Israeli law, while the IDF chief is meant only to recommend various options. He further accused Zamir of trying to renege on agreed-upon procedures at the urgings of “anti-government advisers [in the IDF] stirring the pot.”
While there is no official law in the books that carves out the defense minister’s role regarding senior promotions in the military, there exists a “General Staff order” — a top-tier military protocol — from 1992, updated in 2020, stating that for promotions of colonels and above, the IDF chief of staff is the “appointing authority” and the defense minister is the “approving authority.”
The approving authority is defined in the protocol as the official authorized to approve the promotion of an officer after it has been agreed upon in a staffing discussion.