Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday announced that he had interviewed all three candidates on his shortlist to be the next IDF chief.
Katz said he would make his decision primarily based on which of the candidates he thought would be most aggressive in capitalizing on the achievements of the current war to better frame Israel’s security situation in the future.
He also said the candidate he selected would be expected to make IDF reforms necessary to correct the errors of failing to stop Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.
While it was expected that Katz would move fast to select Herzi Halevi’s replacement for the job, following the current IDF chief’s announcement on January 21 that he would step down on March 6, the defense minister threw a wrench into the works at the end of last week adding dark horse candidate Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai.
The Jerusalem Post and the entire media industry got two of three candidates on the final list correct: Defense Ministry Director-General and former deputy IDF chief Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and outgoing IDF deputy chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram.
However, the Post and all other media had reported that the third candidate on the shortlist would be Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Uri Gordon.
An unconventional option
Instead, Yadai, who recently retired from the IDF after serving as IDF Land Forces Command Chief, ousted Gordon from the list.
Previously, Yadai served as Central Command chief and Home Front Command chief and commanded multiple different full IDF divisions following spending most of his career in the Golani Brigade.
He is seen as a dark horse candidate because, unlike Zamir and Baram, he has not been deputy IDF chief, nor has he commanded the northern or southern commands, which are considered the most important field command roles in the military.
Having led the Northern Command in its sensational defeat of Hezbollah was why Gordon was viewed as a top potential candidate. However, Katz may have viewed him as too close to Halevi.
While Zamir and Baram are still the most likely choices, with Zamir being the lead candidate, Yadai would be used as somewhat of an outsider who was the least close to Halevi and to reshuffle the top echelons of the IDF to the extent that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may want to water down opposition to some of his policies.
Zamir is viewed as favorable to Netanyahu, having served as his military secretary, although he demonstrated some independence, threatening to quit his role at the Defense Ministry when Katz became defense minister.Only after Katz formally asked him to stay on did Zamir remain in his current role.
It is widely understood that Katz will need to pick Netanyahu’s preferred candidate, with the decision potentially coming out this week.