Eyal Zamir appointed to replace resigning Israeli Chief of General Staff Halevi

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz have decided to appoint Zamir to the seat that will be vacated by Halevi as of March 6.

Retired Major General Zamir, who served as Deputy Chief of General Staff until 2021, has been serving as the Director General of the Ministry of Defense since 2023.

Zamir will officially begin his duties as the country's 24th Chief of General Staff after the committee's evaluation and a cabinet vote in Israel.

HE HAD SERVED AS NETANYAHU'S MILITARY SECRETARY

An unnamed Israeli source speaking to the Haaretz newspaper claimed that Zamir, who served as Netanyahu's military secretary between 2012 and 2015, was "very close to the prime minister."

The source stated, "Bibi trusted Eyal completely and he never hesitated to express his opinions, even when they did not align with his own."

In his resignation letter submitted to Netanyahu and Katz, Halevi stated that during the attack launched from Gaza by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, on October 7, 2023, "the Israeli army under his command failed to fulfill its duty to protect citizens, and he has felt the responsibility for this catastrophic failure every day since the first day."

It had emerged that Chief of General Staff Halevi had experienced disagreements with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the government over Israel's attacks on Gaza and the region on October 7, 2023. In Israel, Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners had made statements directly targeting Halevi.

News Source: AA