Retired major Eyal Zamir appointed new Israel Defence Forces chief by Netanyahu
Zamir's appointment comes after his predecessor Lt Gen Herzi Halevi resigned from the post, taking responsibility for failing to stop the October 7 attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed retired Major General Eyal Zamir as the new chief of the Israel Defense Forces, replacing Lt Gen Herzi Halevi who resigned last month.
Halevi resigned on January 21 after taking responsibility for not being able to stop the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. His move came just two days after the ceasefire deal with Hamas came into effect in Gaza, witnessing the exchange of several hostages and prisoners.
Netanyahu's office on Saturday announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have agreed this evening on the appointment of Major General (Res.) Eyal Zamir as the next chief of staff of the (Israeli military)."
The 59-year-old Zamir has been serving as the defence ministry director general since 2023, an AFP report said while citing local media. He had retired from the army after being snubbed of the top post and losing it to Halevi.
He had also served as the deputy chief of staff until 2021, before which he was the head of the military's Southern Command, which is accountable for Gaza.
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As the head of the Southern Command, Zamir led operations to "thwart offensive terror tunnels penetrating from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory," the Israeli defence ministry said.
Defence minister Israel Katz had reportedly named two other candidates along with Zamir for the top army post, Major General Amir Baram, the current IDF deputy chief of staff, and Major General Tamir Yadai.
Notably, Zamir's predecessor Halevi had in his resignation letter said that he was stepping down "due to my acknowledgement of responsibility for the (military's) failure on October 7, (2023)", but added that he was leaving at a time of "significant successes".
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Shortly after this, the wartime head of Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, also resigned over the army's failure in 2023.
Halevi also congratulated Zamir for the post and said, "I have known Eyal (Zamir) for many years, and I am sure that he will lead the IDF forward in the face of the expected challenges and wish him great success."
"In the coming weeks, we will complete a professional and high-quality handover," he added.
(with inputs from AFP)
