IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday was finally able to declare victory in convincing Defense Minister Israel Katz to approve Brig.-Gen. Omer Tishler as the next chief of the air force and V.-Adm. Eyal Harel as the next chief of the navy.
Katz announced his approval of Zamir’s appointments, which the defense minister had held up for months, framing the issue not as having given in, but as having taken the time to complete his own probe of the two officers’ role in the October 7 disaster, and finding no deficiencies.
However, the issue is far more complex.
The defense minister had held up these promotions and many more to get his military-secretary, Brig.-Gen. Guy Markizano, appointed to be the next IDF defense attaché to Washington, over Zamir’s proposed candidate, R.-Adm. Tal Politis.
Politis has served as the deputy head of the navy and as the commander of the elite naval special operations unit, Shayetet 13.
Katz has not publicized anything specific he has against Politis, but wants Markizano, and has tried to use holding up other appointments to pressure Zamir into accepting his candidate for US defense attaché.
Zamir's line in the sand
Earlier in Zamir’s term, he allowed Katz to dictate a few significant IDF General Staff appointments, but he has decided to draw a line in the sand over these three appointments.
Zamir’s recent speech on the issue, explicitly calling for approving Harel’s appointment as the next naval chief, was widely seen as an attempt to put Katz on the spot to explain to the public why he is stalling such a distinguished officer from taking over the helm of the navy.
On one hand, Zamir has had some recent success, succeeding in getting Katz to approve dozens of brigadier general, colonel, and lieutenant-colonel-level appointments.
On the other hand, Katz has not allowed Politis to take office, leading Zamir to appoint Brig.-Gen. Arik Ben-Dov as the military’s acting defense attaché to the US on December 11, replacing Maj.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman, until a compromise might be reached on a permanent replacement.
Tishler will replace air force chief Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar, and Harel will replace navy chief V.-Adm. David Saar Salama.
Both replacements are expected to take place in the spring.
Katz said his decision also means he is done reviewing Zamir’s probes of October 7, other than the probe into Hamas’s “Walls of Jericho” invasion plan, which could have implications for IDF Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder.
In the meantime, Zamir has already suggested Binder will retire from the IDF in August 2027 when he completes three years in his role.
Later Wednesday, at the Air Force pilot-cadets course graduation, Zamir congratulated Tishler on his upcoming appointment, expressing strong confidence in his future leadership.