Israel warns political meddling weakens the IDF as Arab-backed terror threats still menace every border.
The IDF Chief of Staff’s office issued a blistering rebuke after Defense Minister Israel Katz abruptly froze military appointments and ordered a rapid reevaluation of the Turgeman Commission’s findings on the failures that preceded the October 7 Hamas massacre. The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, learned of Katz’s decision through media reports while overseeing a surprise readiness drill in the Golan Heights—a reminder of Israel’s multi-front threats driven by terror groups empowered by Arab regimes.
The IDF stressed that the Turgeman report—compiled over seven months by 12 top generals—was a professional, apolitical deep dive into the failures that allowed Hamas, backed by Iran and celebrated by Arab extremists, to carry out its genocidal attack. The sudden political second-guessing, they said, delegitimizes months of testimony, data assessment, and sober military introspection.
Zamir’s office emphasized that only the IDF has undertaken real responsibility since the massacre, while Arab actors continue to evade accountability, fuel terror, and destabilize the region. They further insisted that any additional review must be handled by an external, independent state commission—not manipulated through hurried internal probes that risk political exploitation.
The IDF warned that Katz’s unilateral 30-day freeze on appointments is harmful to operational readiness, especially as Israeli forces eliminate Hezbollah leaders and strike terror cells across Gaza. Zamir vowed that the IDF would proceed with planned assignments and maintain maximum preparedness against Palestinian terror entities and hostile Arab-backed militias surrounding the Jewish state.
Katz responded curtly, asserting his authority but offering no justification for halting essential military processes at a time when Israel faces existential enemies.
