Israeli media focused their attention on the first weeks that Yisrael Katz spent in his position as Defense Minister and the series of statements he made that led to him being criticized by senior officers in the Israeli army.
Or Heller, a military affairs correspondent for the Israeli Channel 13, said that the army is unable to accommodate Katz as defense minister after a statement in which he threatened the state of Lebanon and its infrastructure.
Heller believes that Katz’s statement “contradicts the Israeli army’s apology to its Lebanese counterpart and the Lebanese government after the mistaken killing of Lebanese soldiers.”
According to Channel 13’s military affairs correspondent, Katz did not inform the army of not approving the appointment of officers and issued a statement to the media instead, in addition to dismissing reserve soldiers.
On November 5, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, and appointed Katz to replace him. He justified his decision by the crisis of trust that gradually arose between them, and did not allow for normal management of the war.
Israeli Channel 13 quoted senior Israeli army officers as saying that Katz arrives late at his office at the Ministry of Defense, and spends hours with members of the administrative body of the ruling Likud Party instead of participating in security discussions.
According to these officers, Katz takes credit for security projects prepared before his appointment, and also acts as if he were holding a political position “and not a minister of defense in times of war.”
In the same context, Noam Amir, a military affairs analyst on Israeli Channel 14, said that the army does not know how to accommodate the new Defense Minister after his series of shocking statements.
He believes that the army leaders are listening to Katz in an attempt to adapt to the situation, noting that the General Staff had a comfortable space in the last two years with the dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant, “but that is no longer the case.”
In turn, the military affairs analyst on the Israeli Channel 13, Alon Ben David, said that he does not feel that Katz is capable of filling his position in the Ministry of Defense.