The Apprentice, IDF version: Defense Minister Katz to interview candidates for Chief of Staff
Following the resignation of IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Katz is set to begin interviewing potential candidates. These are their names.
Defense Minister Israel Katz is set to interview candidates to replace IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who submitted his resignation, effective March, yesterday (Tuesday) due to what he called his failure to defend Israel on October 7th.
The three candidates currently being interviewed are IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Amir Baram, Defense Ministry Director-General, Major General (res.) Eyal Zamir, and Major General Tamir Yadai, who until recently served as commander of the IDF's Ground Forces Command.
Both Baram and Yadai recently resigned from their positions - Baram on the grounds that his term was up but that he stayed on for the war, and Yadai for what he called "personal reasons."
There is an anonymous website alleging that Yadai equipped his soldiers with badly unsafe and outdated equipment, though this is an unverified allegation.
Initial reports suggest General Zamir is the favorite for the Israeli government, as he was not serving in an IDF many blame institutionally for the failure to protect Israeli citizens and soldiers during the October 7 massacres and in subsequent operations during the war.
Multiple rightwing organizations and figured have called for Katz to replace Halevi with someone more aggressive and determined to take the fight to the enemy, in lieu of the repeated raiding approach which appeared to them to get IDF soldiers killed and not enough terrorists.
As Channel 14 reporter Tamir Morag said today on his X account: "Without getting into names and, of course, making a generalization, the guiding principle for all upcoming senior appointments in the IDF should be: replacing a military leadership that aims to end wars with one that aims to win them."
This aligns with Defense Minister Katz's recent statements on the importance of being far more aggressive in combat and not returning to a policy of "mowing the grass" with temporary raids which do not truly stamp out terrorist activity.