Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has sparked a political and military storm after announcing the dismissal of Avi Bluth, the army’s Central Command chief, during a televised interview amid opposition from Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
In an interview with right-wing Channel 14 late Sunday, Katz said he had decided to dismiss Bluth and appoint Dado Bar Kalifa as his replacement.
The Central Command oversees the occupied West Bank, which has seen a sharp escalation in violence by Israeli occupiers against Palestinians and their property.
Katz said his dispute with Bluth began after the commander objected in court to the defense minister’s decision to release far-right activist Tal Yanon Dardik, who is accused of launching attacks against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Times of Israel news portal, Dardik is suspected of involvement in a brutal March attack in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Humsa in the occupied West Bank.
Dardik, along with other extremist occupiers, was accused of forcing a Palestinian man to undress and parading him through the village while subjecting him to sexual torture.
In an unusual move, Katz visited Dardik in his prison cell in late July.
Katz said Bluth and the military prosecution appealed Dardik’s release, “contrary to my policy.”
“They did it against my position. It was a wrong move,” Katz said. “The army commander in the West Bank must take my policy into account, and I will insist on that.”
Army objects
The Israeli army said in a statement after midnight that Katz’s remarks “were not coordinated with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.”
“Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth leads Central Command under complex circumstances,” the army said.
“The chief of staff does not intend to replace commanders in key positions during this sensitive period,” it added. “If such a decision is made, it will be based on established procedures.”
In response, Katz’s office said in a statement that Zamir had recommended Bar Kalifa for the Central Command post in April, after concluding that he was the best candidate.
“Defense Minister Katz’s decision was made based on the recommendation of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir,” his office claimed.
Bluth has served as Central Command chief since July 2024. Commanders usually serve in the post for around three years.
Widespread criticism
The defense minister’s decision drew sharp criticism from opposition figures and former military officials.
“I was defense minister, and I was prime minister, and I have never seen anything like this in my life,” former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told local radio station 103FM on Monday.
“The outgoing government of (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir, (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich and (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is harming Israel’s security and trampling on our soldiers,” Bennett said. “Bluth’s dismissal is a crazy step.”
Former army chief and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot was also critical.
“The move represented an unprecedented deterioration in relations between the political and military levels,” he said through US social media company X.
“Israel is not private property, and the army is not a tool in the primaries of politicians who have lost their way,” Eisenkot said.
Opposition lawmaker Elazar Stern of the Yesh Atid party called for the defense minister’s dismissal.
“I am calling on the Prime Minister to immediately dismiss the Minister of Defense. The Minister of Defense has lost all restraint,” he said on X.
‘Gang’
Yair Golan, former deputy army chief and leader of the opposition Democrats party, called Netanyahu’s government a “gang.”
“What we saw last night on Channel 14 was a political terrorist attack against the Israel Defense Forces (army) and the security of the state,” Golan said on X.
“The Minister of Draft Dodging, appointed to his role as a puppet on strings by a criminally indicted figure has turned the General Staff into a cheap reality TV show designed to appease a few lackeys on a government propaganda channel,” he said, referring to Netanyahu.
“Katz is contaminating the (army) with politics and turning it into a tool in the Likud primaries,” he added. “This is not a government; this is a gang.”
Far-right political party Jewish Power lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, however, welcomed Katz’s move.
“Under his command, occupiers were repeatedly persecuted,” she claimed, referring to Bluth.
“Anyone who wants to set Israel's security policy is welcome to take off his uniform and run for the Knesset,” she said.
Since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli army and occupier attacks have intensified across the West Bank, killing more than 1,182 Palestinians, injuring around 13,000 and leading to the arrest of nearly 24,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
The attacks have included home demolitions, mosque arsons, land razing, preventing farmers from accessing their land, forced displacement, and illegal settlement expansion.
Palestinians warn that Israel is using such measures to pave the way for formal annexation of the occupied West Bank, undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state under relevant UN resolutions.
