After the highly publicized exchange of statements over the past day, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met in person on Tuesday evening.
During the meeting, the two discussed ways to secure the release of the hostages, intensify the military pressure on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the IDF's operations in other arenas.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Katz and Zamir agreed to continue their joint efforts to achieve defense-related objectives, clarifying that the IDF would continue fighting with full force until all war goals are met.
In a joint statement, the two said, "We are working together in full cooperation for Israel's security—as it has always been and will always be."
The meeting follows the first public confrontation between Zamir and Minister Katz on Monday evening. This stemmed from the investigation of Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon, the combat commander of the Gaza Division, who had been responsible over the past year for an inquiry into the division and was removed from reserve duty.
The officer sent a letter to the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, offering to present them with the results of the inquiry, which he claimed had been concealed from the political echelon and the Israeli public under orders from senior military command.
Katz demanded that Solomon be summoned to present the inquiry to him. Zamir issued a statement backing the Military Police Corps (MPC), asserting that Solomon had been summoned on suspicion of security information violations and adding that the claim he was dismissed due to the inquiries he conducted was baseless.
"The Chief of Staff does not receive directives through media statements," Zamir said in an unusual statement via the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, adding, "The investigation will continue to be conducted professionally and objectively. I support the law enforcement bodies in the IDF, which operate according to the law to investigate suspicions as required."
Katz responded to Zamir early Tuesday morning, and said in a statement, "The Defense Minister gives instructions to the Chief of Staff, who is subordinate to the political echelon, in any way he deems fit, and the Chief of Staff's response on this matter was unnecessary and out of place."
