The incoming IDF chief of staff nominee, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir opposed the overwhelming majority position of the IDF high command on October 11, 2023, which was to launch a major strike on Hezbollah before the Lebanese terror group could get organized, sources have told The Jerusalem Post.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, whom some have tried to portray as too passive a commander, pushed hard for such a strike along with then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, Northern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Uri Gordon and the vast majority of the IDF high command (though there was a minority of some other top defense officials who also opposed the plan.)
Ultimately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against such an attack, and the major strike only took place in September 2024, with many top IDF officials saying that it could have been even more decisive in 2023 and saved 60,000 northern residents from having to evacuate for over a year.
There is a debate about whether Netanyahu himself would have vetoed the attack in all circumstances, due both to his belief that defeating Hamas had to come first and doubts about the IDF launching such a risky strike against a tougher foe in the days after the military’s utter failure to block Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. It is unclear whether he was influenced by opposition from the Biden administration or from then key war cabinet members and former IDF chiefs Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.
Zamir declined to comment to the Post on the story.
But the bottom line is that Netanyahu chose Zamir’s position (along with the many other above-mentioned officials) over the majority of the defense establishment.
Interesting revelation
What is most interesting about this revelation is that Zamir was on the “be careful” side, while Halevi was on the “be aggressive” side.
This is interesting because many in the media as well as other observers have quoted Zamir’s remarks when leaving office as IDF deputy chief, where he warned that ground forces were being significantly neglected and that in general, the military needed to move back to a mentality of trying to win wars decisively – even if it might take a long time – as opposed to feeling that all it could achieve was deterrence and that all wars must end rapidly.
In addition, this has led many officials to predict that Zamir may clean house within the top echelons of the IDF and that he is always on the “aggressive attack” side of the spectrum.
This latest revelation – that he opposed a major strike on Hezbollah on October 11, 2023 – paints a more complex picture of Zamir as a non-political military man who follows his own conscience about when to attack and when not to, and who is even ready to hold back sometimes in major decisions if he believes it is the right move.
To be sure, Zamir has made it clear that if the IDF goes back to war against Hamas in Gaza at the end of the current phase of the ceasefire, he would be extremely aggressive militarily.
He is also expected to make some personnel changes to the IDF high command as every new chief does, especially after October 7.
But those who expect him to clean house of virtually all top IDF officers may be disappointed.