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I Hope He's Good

Report: Eyal Zamir is the next IDF Chief of Staff, replacing Herzi Halevi

Channel 14 News reports that Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, current Defense Ministry Director-General, will be Israel's next Chief of Staff.

Zamir and Halevi in earlier times.
Photo: Flash90

Defense Minister Israel Katz has reportedly chosen Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, current Defense Ministry Director-General, as the next IDF Chief of Staff, according to Channel 14 News. He will replace Herzi Halevi in this position.

The Defense Ministry denied this and said that a decision has not yet been made regarding the identity of the next IDF Chief of Staff.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting with all three candidates for Halevi's replacement: IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Amir Baram, Defense Ministry Director-General and Major General (res.) Eyal Zamir, and Major General Tamir Yadai, who until recently served as commander of the IDF's Ground Forces Command.

Channel 14 raised concerns about Zamir's willingness to prioritize the safety of Israel's citizens over the welfare of Gazan civilians in the event of a war where civilian casualties would be inevitably high.

It is not clear from their report whether Zamir is referring to the traditional concept of military proportionality, a well-established concept of armies only being allowed to use the necessary means to secure a given objective, or the commonly used idea of "proportionality" in diplomatic discourse, which refers to an almost "tit for tat" concept of warfare.

Halevi resigned last week over his failure to prevent the deaths and kidnappings of October 7, effective March of this year. In his letter, he argued that it would have been a mistake to immediately resign, and that it was important to get the army onto a sound footing and regain the initiative. Once the hostage deal and a ceasefire was secured, Halevi felt able to step down.

Southern Command Commander Major General Yaron Finkelman also resigned in an impassioned letter describing his failure to protect the western Negev during October 7 and praising the efforts of IDF forces in hurting Hamas and fighting terrorists, saying he would stay on for any job the army needed him for.

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