The new military chief will step into the shoes of Herzi Halevi, who has commanded the military during the 15-month war against Hamas in Gaza.

By JNS

Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir has been designated to replace Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi as the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday night.

Zamir, 59, the current director general of the Defense Ministry, will be the first IDF chief who started his career in the Armored Corps since David (Dado) Elazar in the 1970s.

Zamir previously served as deputy chief of staff (2018 to 2021), and before that, he led the Southern Command from 2015 to 2018. During that time, he helped formulate war plans focused on Hamas and contemplated scenarios in which the terrorist faction might be replaced in Gaza, though subsequent Southern Command leaders did not properly update these plans.

While at the helm of the Defense Ministry, Zamir has spearheaded efforts over the past year to greatly ramp up domestic weapons production to reduce reliance on imports, working with local defense companies to do this.

Zamir will replacing Halevi, who said he will step down on March 6.