IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir has approved the appointment of a new head of the IDF’s Central Command, responsible for the West Bank, in a wider deal involving dozens of other senior appointments with Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, the head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, will replace Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth in January, according to the announcement.
On the one hand, Zamir has backed away from his position that he would not make any changes at the level of major-general and the IDF General Staff before a new government is in place.
On the other hand, since Bar Kalifa will not replace Bluth before January 2027, Zamir can say he held his ground in a conflict with Katz.
Further, Katz appeared to approve dozens of new senior appointments that he might otherwise have been able to stall to pressure Zamir.
On August 3, Katz stated his intention to appoint Bar Kalifa as head of the Central Command, during a live interview with Channel 14’s "The Patriots."
Zamir immediately rebuked Katz and said that he would not allow such a change and that Katz lacked the authority to fire Bluth without his approval.
Bar Kalifa appointment comes amid conflict between IDF chief, defense minister
The fight between Katz and Bluth came as the defense minister has regularly hamstrung the IDF central commander’s tools for combating Jewish extremist violence against innocent Palestinians, while the two have been united at least in fighting Palestinian terror.
Katz told Channel 14 at the time that he viewed Bluth as overly harsh in efforts to combat Jewish extremist violence.
The defense minister tried to maneuver, noting in a statement that as of the end of April, Zamir had recommended that Katz appoint Bar Kalifa as the head of Central Command.
Naftali Bennett blasted the decision at the time.
“After it finished dismantling the IDF from the outside and ensuring mass draft evasion, the October 7 government has decided to dismantle the IDF from the inside and ensure total chaos,” the former prime minister said on X/Twitter.
He continued to promise the public and all soldiers and reservists that “reinforcements are on the way,” asserting that “soon we will replace them and together we will fix it.”
Meanwhile, most of the defense establishment does not view Bluth as too harsh, but rather accuses Katz of tying his hands.
In fact, Jewish extremist violence has reached new levels since Katz became defense minister and rolled back administrative detention of Jews.
Recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has mostly avoided the issue, has also condemned Jewish extremist violence in Judea and Samaria.
In contrast, Katz has rarely commented on the issue, seemingly more concerned about his political standing in the Likud, and is trying to transfer the issue to the police, though experts say this could be unworkable given that the IDF would still be in the West Bank to contain Palestinian terror.