Eyal Zamir Appointed IDF Chief Of Staff

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz agreed this evening on the appointment of Major General (Res.) Eyal Zamir as the next chief of staff of the (Israeli military),” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Saturday night.

Zamir replaces Lieutenant General Hertzi Halevi, who resigned on January 21, two days after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza which has now seen the release of 18 hostages by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad. Halevi served two years instead of the traditional four-year appointment.

Halevi said in his resignation letter that he was stepping down “due to my acknowledgement of responsibility for the IDF’s failure on October 7, (2023)”, but added that he was leaving at a time of “significant successes”.

Shortly after Halevi’s announcement, the wartime head of Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, also resigned over the military’s failings in 2023.

Zamir, 59, has been serving as the Defence Ministry director-general since 2023 and, according to Israeli media, he retired from the military after losing out on the top job to Halevi.

Zamir was born and raised in Eilat. He was drafted into the IDF and joined the Armored Corps in 1984. He later completed an armored officers course and was a platoon commander and company commander in the 500th Brigade and the 460th Brigade.[7]

In 1992-1994 he served as the operations officer of the 7th Armored Brigade (with the rank of major). From 1994 to 1996 he served as the commander of the 75th Battalion in the 7th Brigade. In 1996, he was the commander of the tank commanders course at the armored school. He served in this position until 1997, when he went on to study for a year at the War School in France.

In 1998-2000 he served as an operations officer of the 162nd Division. In the years 2000–2002, he was head of the Armored Corps Theory Department at the headquarters of the Chief Armored Officer, and at the same time served as commander of the 656th Brigade, a reserve division in the Central Command (with the rank of colonel). In the years 2002–2003, he was commander of the Tactical Training Center at the National Training Center on land, in parallel with his role as commander of the reserve division.

In 2003–2005 he was commander of the 7th Armored Brigade.[8] In the years 2007–2009 he served as commander of the 143rd Division (with the rank of brigadier general), and at the same time commanded a course for company commanders and battalion commanders.

In June 2009, he was appointed commander of the 36th Division. In July 2011 he was replaced by Tamir Hayman.

In November 2012, he was appointed the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, serving for three years until appointed  commander of Southern Command. As head of Southern Command, Zamir led efforts to “thwart offensive terror tunnels penetrating from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” according to the defence ministry.

Zamir appeared alongside Aviv Kohavi, Yair Golan and Nitzan Alon on the 2018 shortlist to replace then chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Kochavi was ultimately appointed to the post, with Zamir becoming Deputy Chief of Staff. He was also shortlisted for chief of staff in 2022 together with Hertzi Halevi, who was ultimately chosen ahead of him.