Katz\u2019s unprecedented pronouncement drew a torrent of harsh criticism, with opposition lawmakers, former defense chiefs and even settlement council heads calling for his ouster.<\/p>\n
\t In the face of the widespread criticism, Katz tried to explain his way out of the fiasco, claiming he did not call for Bluth\u2019s dismissal, and that any claims to the contrary were \u201ca complete lie,\u201d and \u201cpart of a political campaign directed against the government.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz argued that Zamir had already recommended Bar Kalifa as the next Central Command chief, and that his comments on Channel 14 on Sunday were simply his announcement of his intention to \u201cadvance his appointment in accordance with\u00a0 procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz cited a Channel 12 news report from April 24 which said that Zamir had recommended Bar Kalifa as the next Central Command chief, and added:\u00a0\u201cOn July 28, Channel 14 news reported that I had accepted the chief of staff\u2019s recommendation, and after conducting an interview with Maj. Gen. Bar Kalifa and concluding that he was the most suitable candidate, I decided to advance his appointment in accordance with the procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words, months before the interview [I conducted with Bar Kalifa], the chief of staff\u2019s recommendation had already been made, approved by me, and the appointment process was already well underway. Therefore, the attempt to portray the decision as having been made following the interview does not stand up to the facts,\u201d Katz claimed.<\/p>\n In fact, the IDF had not announced that Bar Kalifa would be replacing Bluth, and neither had Katz until Sunday night. The military also said Sunday night, after Katz dropped his TV bombshell, that the attempt to appoint Bar Kalifa had not been \u201cin accordance with procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n \t \u2018Contemptible act that crosses another red line\u2019<\/p>\n Two former defense ministers, Blue and White head Benny Gantz and former Likud defense minister Yoav Gallant, on Monday both defended Bluth and accused Katz of politicizing the military\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe attempt to turn discussions on IDF postings into part of the Likud primary campaign hurts the nation\u2019s security,\u201d Gantz wrote on X. \u201cThe politicization of the IDF is not governance, it\u2019s a real danger.\u201d<\/p>\n Gallant, who was replaced by Katz, said that the move to remove Bluth on live TV \u201cis a contemptible act that crosses another red line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUndermining the authority of commanders shakes the foundations of the army and bringing the IDF into the political arena is a perilous game that endangers the state of Israel,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n \t Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman, another former defense minister, wrote on X that \u201canyone who acts solely based on the consideration of party primaries and central committee members is not fit or worthy to serve as Israel\u2019s defense minister.\u201d<\/p>\n Top election contender Gadi Eisenkot, himself a former IDF chief of staff, called Katz\u2019s move \u201can unprecedented low point in relations between the political and military echelons,\u201d and said that the current government \u201cis not fit to safeguard the security of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Yair Golan, a former deputy IDF chief of staff who now leads the left-wing Democrats party, said Katz\u2019s attempt to remove Bluth is a \u201cpolitical attack,\u201d using a word that normally denotes terror activity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ousting of a Central Command general on live TV, without the necessary processes and without [the approval of] the chief of staff, is a crossing of a red line that proves that this destructive government has lost all restraint,\u201d Golan said.<\/p>\n Elazar Stern, a Yesh Atid lawmaker and retired senior officer, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Katz, saying the defense minister \u201cis working for [party] primaries and not the security of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Coalition lawmakers, meanwhile, have been mostly mum on the subject, neither defending nor criticizing Katz.<\/p>\n But former UN ambassador Gilad Erdan, who was once a longtime Likud member and key ally of Netanyahu, accused Katz of engaging in \u201cpetty politics at the expense of our security.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis time he has sunk to a new low: dismissing a dedicated IDF general live on air. This is not right-wing. This is a corrupted right-wing that shames us all,\u201d Erdan declared in a post on X. \u201cA real right-wing respects IDF officers, a real right-wing backs IDF officers and acts out of consideration for the good of the state and not for personal gain.\u201d<\/p>\n Erdan, a former Likud politician, is rumored to be set to establish a new \u201cLikud B\u201d<\/a> party with Likud rebel Yuli Edelstein, in an attempt to draw votes from Netanyahu\u2019s base over to a potential Zionist opposition coalition.<\/p>\n Settlement leaders back Bluth: Best head of Central Command ever<\/p>\n Also coming out strongly against Katz were several top right-wing settlement figures, including Beit El settlement council chief Shai Alon, who called the move to oust Bluth \u201cshameful and disgraceful,\u201d lauding the West Bank commander for being behind the establishment of 104 Jewish settlements in the area.<\/p>\n The current government has formally approved the establishment and retroactive legalization of 104 settlements, while the IDF\u2019s Central Command under Bluth\u2019s leadership has reportedly helped coordinate the establishment of dozens of illegal settlement outposts across the West Bank.<\/p>\n \u201cMinister Katz, if you are missing a few votes in the primaries, tell me and I will make them up for you,\u201d Alon said, adding that he contacted the prime minister \u201cto remove this disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n The Yesha Council, an umbrella body representing municipal settlement authorities in the West Bank, also expressed public support for Bluth, saying his offensive military tactics in the territory have been successful in tackling terrorism, and additionally praises his actions in \u201cdeveloping settlement in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n \t The Yesha Council said that the heads of settlement municipal authorities will be meeting with Katz on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Yesha chairman Yisrael Ganz tempered the criticism of Katz.<\/p>\n Ganz says that there is a \u201cconsensus\u201d among heads of settlement municipal authorities that Bluth is \u201cthe best head of Central Command ever,\u201d but adds that Katz is also \u201cthe best defense minister ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz, like Bluth, has worked to expand the establishment of illegal settlement outposts around the West Bank, and both of them have praised illegal farming outposts for taking control over large swaths of land in the territory. This has earned them the support and praise of the settlement movement, as well as intense criticism from civil rights groups who note that the outposts are frequently the source of extreme violence and harassment against local Palestinians.<\/p>\n Zamir said to pause senior appointments until after elections<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to Monday reports in Hebrew media, IDF chief Zamir has decided not to appoint any officers to senior roles until at least after the election season.<\/p>\n Under the IDF\u2019s protocols for promotions of colonels and above, the IDF chief selects candidates, who then must be approved by the defense minister.<\/p>\n The Ynet news site reported that Zamir will freeze appointments of major generals until early 2027, after the October 2026 election season is presumed to have settled, in an apparent attempt to prevent Katz from interfering.<\/p>\n The move means that Bluth will likely stay in his role for three years, which is not unusual.<\/p>\n \t Most other roles in the general staff are normally three to five years, meaning that no officers will be required to stay on longer than usual if Zamir holds off on appointments until 2027.<\/p>\n The dispute between Katz and Bluth stems from an attempt last week to renew an administrative restraining order against a violent\u00a0settler, Tal Yinon Dardik, who is suspected of a brutal March attack, where he, along with other extremist settlers, allegedly stripped a Palestinian victim, zip-tied his genitals, and paraded him around a village. Dardik, who lives on a farming outpost in Area B in the West Bank, which is under Palestinian civil control, denies taking part in the incident.<\/p>\n After breaching the restraining order instructing him to stay away from his outpost home, he was placed in a detention cell, where he has been on a hunger strike for weeks. In a highly unusual move, Katz met Dardik in late July in his jail cell.<\/p>\n A week ago, Dardik\u2019s restraining order was repealed on a technicality, and Katz instructed Bluth not to renew it. He said Bluth and the Military Advocate General\u2019s Corps had filed an appeal to the court against the release of Dardik, \u201ccontrary to my policy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey did it against my position. It was the wrong step. [The IDF\u2019s West Bank commander] must take my policy into account, and I will insist on this,\u201d Katz told Channel 14 Sunday night.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F251225CG42-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tDefense Minister Israel Katz attends a conference of the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F250128OBH15-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tMaj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, the head of the IDF\u2019s Personnel Directorate, speaks at a conference for the army\u2019s ultra-Orthodox Netzach Yehuda battalion in Jerusalem, January 28, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-12-23-at-18.29.48-640x400.jpeg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tFILE: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) and war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in northern Gaza\u2019s Beit Hanoun, December 23, 2023. (Elad Malka\/Defense Ministry)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F260625FFFF00004-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tDefense Minister Israel Katz, second left, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir attend the graduation ceremony of an IDF officers\u2019 course in southern Israel, June 25, 2026. (Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-11-12-at-09.34.50-640x400.jpeg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tIDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, right, speaks with soldiers in the West Bank, in a handout photo provided on November 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1d885ce8-d5e4-42fd-9dff-9eb5cb38d211-e1784477343610-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tIDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) is seen with his office manager, Lt. Col. Tomer Sayag (left) and Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth at the Judea and Samaria Division headquarters near Beit El in the West Bank, July 19, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DUAL-yyu1-640x400.jpeg\")
<\/a>