Retired general picked to head Israeli military

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israeli Katz have agreed on the appointment of Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir as the next chief of staff of the military.

The announcement by the prime minister’s office was made late on Saturday and comes nearly two weeks after current military chief Herzi Halevi said he was stepping down.

Eyal Zamir, a retired major general who served in the Israeli military for 28 years, would be taking over a military that has waged 15 months of war in Gaza, while also fighting in Lebanon and confronting airstrikes launched from Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

The military last month launched a large-scale operation in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank and since late December Israeli soldiers have occupied parts of Syria.

Zamir served as the deputy chief of staff of the military from 2018 until 2021, according to the military’s website.

He also once headed southern command, a regional command that is responsible for military operations and defense, including the Gaza border, and was earlier a military secretary to Netanyahu.

Halevi, appointed chief of staff in 2022, announced his resignation last month, taking responsibility for the massive security failure on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led operatives from Gaza carried out the attack on southern Israeli communities.

Shortly after Halevi’s announcement, the wartime head of Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, too resigned over the military’s failings in 2023.

Halevi on Saturday congratulated Zamir and committed to a professional transfer of command. Halevi will resign on March 6.

Despite public anger over the attack, Netanyahu’s government has resisted calls to open a state inquiry into its own responsibility for the security failure that resulted in 1,200 mostly Israelis being killed and about 250 hostages taken.