Close associates of Katz: Zamir crossed a red line on the political rebellion level

SadaNews - Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz said during a speech in the Knesset today, Wednesday, amid tensions between him and Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, that he and Zamir "have worked, are working, and will work together. There are certain disagreements regarding the investigations, and these disagreements are objective."

Katz, Zamir, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet during extensive security discussions that will be held this evening, according to the public broadcasting agency "Kan."

"Kan" reported that sources close to Katz said that Zamir "crossed a red line at the boundaries of rebellion against the political level's powers. He did not inform the Security Minister of the conclusions and recommendations he received, and he may have hidden other matters." According to them, Katz does not intend to dismiss Zamir from his position, but "he needs to know his place."

They added that it is within Katz's authority to "appoint a security system auditor to scrutinize all investigations (military regarding the failures of October 7). There is a need to tighten penalties, and to form a committee to strip ranks or lower the ranks of officers. There are those who should be dismissed. We will not allow any official to cover up the failures, and the whole truth should be brought out, and blame should not only be placed on those who held positions on October 7, but also on those who held them before that."

Yesterday, "Kan" quoted sources close to Netanyahu expressing regret for appointing Zamir as Chief of Staff, stating "we made a mistake with this appointment. He acts very independently and works against everything he promised us."

Netanyahu summoned Katz and Zamir to his office yesterday, but they refrained from holding a three-way meeting. Netanyahu told Zamir, "You are the Chief of Staff, and you are right in several matters, but you are subject to political leadership." Sources close to Netanyahu stated that "Katz must end this tense situation" with Zamir.

It is worth noting that the relationship between Katz and Zamir has been strained for some time, but this tension escalated after Katz announced two days ago that he appointed security system auditor Yair Volansky to scrutinize the report of a committee led by reserve General Sami Tarjuman, which investigated the Israeli army's actions in the failure of October 7. Katz's decision was made due to not being informed in advance of Zamir's decision to dismiss several current and former officers based on the findings of Tarjuman's report.

Katz demanded that Volansky scrutinizes Tarjuman's report "including the necessity to conduct further investigations in areas not previously investigated by the army and not addressed by Tarjuman's committee, but only by investigations that are completed."

Zamir responded in a statement to Katz's decision to scrutinize Tarjuman's report by saying that "the decision to question the report, which was written over seven months by 12 generals and colonels, summarized by the army commander, and personally presented to the minister, is perplexing."

Zamir added in his statement that "the Israeli army is the only authority in the state that has examined itself thoroughly regarding its failures and bears responsibility. If there is a need to complete the picture, it should be through an external committee for the Israeli army, which is objective and unbiased, and examines the procedures among the different branches and levels that preceded the failure of October 7, including the relationship between the military and political levels."