by Yonah Jeremy Bob
The largest remaining issues are the fate of Tishler and the next Air Force chief, as well as the next defense attache in Washington.
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Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir announced on Wednesday a second partial deal in their disputes over the October 7 disaster probes and IDF officer appointments, as they move toward a possible more comprehensive resolution.
Katz has said he will back off from appointing the Defense Ministry Comptroller, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yair Volansky. Conduct an independent review of the IDF's two prior October 7 probes.
Instead, Zamir has agreed that Volansky will sit on the Maj. committee. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa, whom Zamir ordered to delve deeper into the specific "Walls of Jericho" aspects of the October 7 disaster.
The "Walls of Jericho" refers to warnings put out by portions of the IDF regarding having intercepted what turned out to be Hamas's invasion plans for October 7.
These plans were either ignored, undermined, or not used for any practical purpose by top IDF officials, due to a pervasive strategic belief that Hamas was deterred and that any counter-evidence, such as invasion plans, was a fantasy Hamas was not seriously considering for implementation.
Zamir and Katz agree on 'Walls of Jericho' study
Both Zamir and Katz agree that a deeper study of the "Walls of Jericho" saga is necessary. Still, Zamir wants to do one relatively quick study, followed by putting the issue behind the IDF so as to focus on the future.In contrast, Katz has given the impression that he would like the issue to remain in the headlines, including as a tool to oust additional IDF officers.
In addition, Zamir has agreed to update Volansky on an ongoing basis regarding the status of continuing probes into the Operations Command and the Navy's performance on October 7.
A probe led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sammy Turjeman found that the prior probes into those two military arms, issued by former IDF chief Herzi Halevi in February of this year, were insufficient.
Finally, Volansky will review the two prior probes of the Air Force's performance on October 7 and, in particular, evaluate the conduct of Brig. Gen. Omer Tishler, whom Zamir wants to appoint as the next air force chief to replace the current chief, Tomer Bar, who is stepping down in April 2026.
Katz has held up Tishler's promotion, either because he wants him disqualified for his conduct on October 7, or as leverage over Zamir to secure his military secretary, Brig. Gen. Guy Markizano, to be appointed to the key post of the next IDF attache to the US.
Zamir opposes Markizano for the job, and anonymous military sources have leaked material to the media to undermine Markizano's reputation.
The IDF chief wants Brig. Gen. Tal Polites to take up the US defense attache post.
Polites has served as deputy head of the navy and the commander of the IDF elite Navy SEAL unit, Shayetet 13.
Katz has not made any specific public statements against Polites.
The prior officer serving as attache was DF Maj. Gen. Hadi Zilberman, who left his post several weeks ago.
Zilberman has already moved on to become the head of the IDF Planning Command, starting a transition process with IDF Maj. Gen. Eyal Harel, with Zilberman, is due to fully take sole control of the position on December 21.
Besides Wednesday's partial deal, the first partial agreement between Zamir and Katz to resolve the broader dispute came on Sunday, when they agreed to end their dispute over a wide range of IDF appointments.
Dozens of appointments at the middle management level and some at senior-middle management within the IDF will now go through, including officials across the army, air force, and other divisions, mostly at the rank of colonel (brigade commanders of around 1,000 soldiers) and lieutenant colonel (battalion commanders of around 250 soldiers).
There are also a small number of appointments being approved at the brigadier general level.
Despite Zamir winning those appointments, until Wednesday Katz had said he would hold his ground on freezing and potentially intervening in several high-command-level appointments until his third-round probe of two prior IDF probes into the October 7 disaster is complete.
The largest remaining issues are the fate of Tishler and the next Air Force chief, as well as the next defense attache in Washington.
Regarding Tishler, IDF sources believe that Katz will ultimately approve his appointment.
However, some of these sources have underestimated Katz's opposition.
If Katz continues to veto Tishler, the Air Force has six other senior headquarters officers of similar rank and several Air Force base commanders of similar rank who might be next in line.
Another possibility could be IDF Maj. Gen. Aviad Dagan, who currently heads the Communications Command, but has a deep and heroic prior record in the air force.
Katz has also frozen attempts to replace Navy Chief Maj. Gen. David Saar Salame, who is retiring in the coming months.
Yonah Jeremy Bob
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-879862
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