Who is Netanyahu's close ally and Israel's new military chief, Eyal Zamir?
Who is Eyal Zamir, Israel's new military chief and a close ally of Netanyahu?
Eyal Zamir has been appointed as the new chief of staff of the Israeli army. It has been revealed that Zamir is working as an ally of the current prime minister and is carrying out his instructions.
Instead of focusing on defense, the new military commander is striving for "total victory" and preparing for a multi-front conflict.
"You have been attacked by Hamas," Eyal Zamir told Major General Yaron Finkelman of Israel's Southern Command during a visit to an army position near Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Then, unexpectedly, he caught him off guard and conducted an unannounced exercise.
The incident occurred on the newly appointed Israeli Chief of Staff's first day in office, as he was trying to show what kind of military leader he would be.
Born in Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat), Zamir, 59, is one of the oldest chiefs of staff to hold the current position. He is of Iraqi and Yemeni Jewish descent.
He studied political science at Tel Aviv University, later earning a master's degree in "national security" at the University of Haifa, and also studied at military academies.
Zamir, who soon chose the Armored Forces after joining the Israeli Army in 1984, trained as a combat soldier and also completed a tank driver's course.
Over the years, he rose through the ranks of the Israeli military, reaching the rank of commander. He led units in the Second Intifada, the 2006 Lebanon War, and numerous Israeli offensives against the besieged Gaza Strip.
He also briefly led Israel's Southern Command, which collapsed within hours of a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Zamir served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army from 2018 to 2021. However, before his latest appointment, he served as Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense from 2023 to 2025.
He was also the military secretary to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Notably, Eyal Zamir is a close ally of the Israeli Prime Minister and has maintained a long-standing relationship with him.
Interestingly, instead of alienating most of those who had previously surrounded him and criticized his tactics, Netanyahu has managed to attract loyalists.
For example, the Israeli prime minister created such difficult conditions for the former "War Cabinet" that Benny Gans and Gadi Eisenkot resigned, dissatisfied with the fact that the emergency war government was forced to operate in a paralyzed state.
Later, Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had opposed his decisions, and replaced him with former Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who was loyal to him.
One of the first steps taken by the new Israeli army chief of staff was to initiate a wave of general dismissals. He also dismissed Daniel Hagari, Israel's military spokesman, who had frequently, sometimes publicly, clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Zamir is also a believer in the old-school vision of the Israeli military, a strategy adopted in the early 1990s and once called a "small and smart army" by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak - a counter to the occupying power's over-reliance on technology.
Instead of relying on diplomacy and seeking to avoid war, Zamir not only determined to aggressively wage an Israeli war, but also pledged to work with the political leadership to "ensure" the complete destruction of Hamas in Gaza and that the war would not end with a ceasefire agreement.
Zamir's appointment was met with great joy by Israel's most radical political groups, some of whom described the choice as a "dream."
Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: "The most important thing is for Zamir to remember that professional personnel are subordinate to political leadership. It's time for the military to understand this." The Israeli daily Haaretz also published Netanyahu's response to Smotrich: "Not just the military, but all professional personnel."
Muhammad Dawood Asadullah
