Defense Minister Israel Katz responded on Tuesday to a statement by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir criticizing Katz's recent press statements regarding the arrest of an officer involved in the October 7th massacre investigations. "The Defense Minister gives instructions to the Chief of Staff, who is subordinate to the politicians, in any way deemed appropriate, and the Chief of Staff's response on the matter was unnecessary and out of place." Related articles: Katz and Zamir meet: 'We are working together' Hamas will pay increasingly heavy prices Israel to manage admin. for voluntary relocation from Gaza If Hamas continues its refusal, we'll take more land from Gaza Katz added that "The instruction to the Chief of Staff to examine the circumstances that led to the investigation and the claims presented in the letter written by Brigadier General Solomon to the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister regarding the IDF's behavior towards him in light of the critical investigation he conducted was given directly before the statement to the press due to the public aspect of his work. This was done without any intention to harm the investigation, which is itself managed by the military prosecution." The Defense Minister concluded the statement by saying, "The media discourse surrounding the issue should now cease and subsequently be dealt with in other ways." On Monday, a public confrontation broke out between Chief of Staff Zamir and Defense Minister Katz due to the investigation of reserve Brigadier General Oren Solomon, who had been responsible over the past year for the investigation of the Gaza Division's operation during the October 7th massacre as part of the broader investigation. Solomon was recently dismissed from his reserve position, and it was revealed yesterday that he was also summoned for a Military Police investigation. The officer sent a letter to the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, offering to present to them the Gaza Division's investigation, which he claims was concealed from the politicians and the Israeli public at the instruction of the senior military command. Defense Minister Katz demanded to summon Solomon in order to have him present the investigation to them. The instruction was released directly to the media. Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued a statement of support for the Military Police, claiming that Solomon was summoned on suspicion of security information offenses and that the claim that he was dismissed due to the investigations he conducted is baseless. "The Chief of Staff does not receive instructions through statements in the media," Zamir said in an unusual manner, adding: "The investigation will continue to be conducted professionally and objectively. I support the law enforcement bodies in the IDF that operate according to the law to investigate suspicions, as required."
