The incoming chief of staff of the Israeli army is retired Major-General Eyal Zamir, former director-general of the Defence Ministry, whose term begins on Wednesday.
Zamir takes over from Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, who announced his resignation in January in anticipation of last week’s report into the military’s catastrophic failings during the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
The government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has refused to allow an investigation into its failings that day.
Defence Minister Israel Katz, along with Netanyahu, picked Zamir for the role last month. He will command all Israeli military operations, including its deployments to Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
What do we know about Zamir’s record?
Quite a bit.
Zamir has been considered for the role of chief of staff twice, but was passed over both times in favour of the outgoing Halevi and his predecessor, Aviv Kohavi.
Originally conscripted into the military in 1984, Zamir progressed through the ranks from tank officer to commander of the 7th Armored Brigade in 2003 and the 36th Armored Division in 2009.
Critically for his future success, he was Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2012 to 2015, then leader of Israel’s southern command for the next three years.
In his final year in the southern command, Zamir’s troops “confronted” Palestinian protesters from Gaza taking part in the Great March of Return; they killed more than 150 protesters and wounded 10,000 others, including 1,849 children, 424 women, 115 paramedics and 115 journalists.
In November 2018, Netanyahu promoted him to deputy chief of staff.
Early in the protests, following the killing of 16 Palestinians during a single day in May, Zamir defended his actions, saying his forces had been “identifying attempts to carry out terror attacks under the camouflage of riots”.
In 2021, he left the military and Israel, departing for the United States, where he was a visiting research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank, returning to Israel in 2023 when he was appointed director-general of the Defence Ministry.
What do we know about his views?
He seems to like war.
In the first speech following his appointment on March 1, Zamir said 2025 would “continue to be a year of combat”, despite Israel having agreed to ceasefires in the two wars it was waging – on Gaza and Lebanon.
He said Israel needs to be self-sufficient, with no mention of the huge amounts of military aid it receives from the US.
“We were all raised on the principle: ‘The State of Israel will defend itself by itself.’ Now, I am telling you that Israel will also produce its own weapons independently, in the face of any threat or scenario,” Zamir said.
He has strident opinions on the need to confront Iran and other “opponents of Israel”.
In 2007, he reportedly wrote in defence of the practice of “collective punishment” against what was described as “terrorist populations”.
Collective punishment is illegal under international law.
What have others said?
Unsurprisingly, Zamir’s appointment has been welcomed by some of the more hard-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Israel’s pro-settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told members of his bloc earlier this month that, under Zamir’s leadership, Israel was preparing to occupy Gaza in coordination with US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu praised his appointment, saying “even when he served as my military secretary, I was impressed by Eyal Zamir’s commitment to the country”, his commitment to the army, as well as “the fact that his approach is geared toward offence”.
“We expect that during his service … we will reach all these great achievements, which will change not only the situation of Israel but also the face of the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu, who agreed to the ceasefires and withdrawal agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, said.
Will Zamir’s appointment affect Israel’s future?
It may very well.
Several senior members of the military and security apparatus have resigned, while others have had their promotions deferred over the failures of the October 7 attacks, creating a leadership vacuum at the top of the security forces, which Zamir and, by extension Netanyahu, will be able to shape to their own ends.
In the long term, the position of army chief has also frequently led to further high-profile political careers.
Some former prime ministers, including Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak, served as chiefs of staff.
In addition, former defence ministers, including Shaul Mofaz, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, had all previously held the position.
