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Selection Process for Next IDF Chief Looks to Be Rapid
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, at UN headquarters in New York, US, March 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
JNS.org – As Defense Minister Israel Katz prepares to select the next chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, he began meeting the leading candidates on Jan. 26, after incumbent Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that he will step down on March 6.
Katz is interviewing three contenders to lead the military: the current (and outgoing) deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram; the director general of the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir; and Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, the former head of the Ground Forces Command.
The defense minister has pledged to conduct an orderly and rapid selection process to find a chief of staff who will prepare the military for the “many security challenges faced by the State of Israel at this time.”
Any new chief of staff will have the titanic double mission of rehabilitating and restructuring the IDF after the catastrophic Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and 15 months of intensive, multi-front warfare, coupled with the very real prospect of additional combat near and far.
Katz has also indicated that he expects officers associated with intelligence or operational errors might step aside.
• Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, while at the helm of the Defense Ministry, 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.
He previously served as deputy chief of staff (2018 to 2021), and before that, he led the IDF Southern Command from 2015 to 2018. During that time, he helped formulate war plans focused on Hamas and contemplated scenarios in which the terror faction might be replaced in Gaza, though subsequent Southern Command leaders did not properly update these plans.
Zamir’s term as director general of the Defense Ministry granted him familiarity with both the political and operational dimensions of Israeli defense efforts. Many observers view him as the frontrunner.
• Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai is a highly experienced and well regarded IDF commander. During his career, he commanded several notable formations, including the Golani Brigade, the Judea and Samaria Division, the Home Front Command, the Central Command and, most recently, the Ground Forces, where he balanced force build-up needs with the demands of ongoing multi-front warfare. Yadai’s background suggests that he excelled at coordinating prolonged large-scale operations under pressure.
• Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the outgoing deputy chief of staff, has a rich military history, including the command of the elite Maglan Unit, the Samaria Brigade, the Paratroopers Brigade and the Northern Command.
A recent resignation letter he wrote to the chief of staff leaked, in which he requested to end his role as deputy despite the fact that the IDF is in a state of war, made the headlines for its implied criticism of the manner in which the Gaza war has been prosecuted.
Baram wrote, “The intensity of the war has decreased significantly, my ability to contribute in the current situation is limited.” This appears to be an attack on the oscillating intensity of IDF operations in Gaza.
Lt. Col. (res.) Doron Avital, former commander of the elite General Staff Reconnaissance (Sayeret Matkal) Unit, told JNS on Jan. 27 that “the IDF went through a dramatic trauma on October 7—an intense crisis that still reverberates within it.
“Nevertheless, the dramatic successes since, led by Defense Minister [Yoav] Gallant [whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed in early November—Y.L.] and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, indicate that even in the heart of the severe crisis, the IDF’s nerves of steel did not fail,” Avital said.
“The commanders succeeded in moving the IDF from initial shock to a successful and magnificent offensive: In the north [against Hezbollah], the offensive campaign was managed perfectly, and in the south, despite many difficulties, the IDF managed to inflict a defeat on Hamas—an enemy that based its defense on one of the most complex underground arrays any army has ever dealt with.”
He continued, “Now, after the end of the assault phase, the army stands before many tests and requires significant decisions.” These include the need for a comprehensive structure reform, but one that must be conducted “in the midst of sailing at sea,” like a ship needing repairs in the heart of the ocean.
The IDF has to ensure full operational readiness at any moment, said Avital, adding that this would be a difficult but essential challenge.
“The October 7 crisis created a new generation of commanders who experienced combat and gained significant operational experience. We must push this generation forward and let it lead,” argued Avital. “This is the time to carry out fundamental reforms, while maintaining constant operational readiness, to ensure the IDF’s future as a sharp, advanced and victorious army.”
The post Selection Process for Next IDF Chief Looks to Be Rapid first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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German Soccer Team Honors Anniversary of Murdered Hamas Hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s Death
A flag drawing awareness to Hamas hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin displayed outside the home stadium of Werder Bremen on July 4, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
The German professional soccer team SV Werder Bremen paid tribute to murdered American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin in a social media post on the first anniversary of his death while in Hamas captivity.
On Tuesday, the German team shared on Instagram a photo of two tifos displayed by German soccer fans during a match last year that said “Shalom, Salam, Peace” and “May Your Memory Be A Revolution, Achi!” The Hebrew word for “brother” is “achi.” Soccer fans in the stands also raised a giant photo of 23-year-old Goldberg-Polin, who was a big fan of the German club.
In the Instagram post, SV Werder Bremen wrote in German: “SV Werder remembers Hersh Goldberg-Polin. This is the first anniversary of the Jewish death of Hersh, who Hamas murdered along with five other hostages after eleven months of captivity. You remain in our hearts, achi!”
Goldberg-Polin was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, while at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel. He and five additional hostages – Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Carmel Gat, 40, Almog Sarusi, 27, Alexander Lobanov, 32, and Sergeant Ori Danino, 25 – were murdered in a Hamas terror tunnel in the Gaza Strip after 328 days in captivity. Their bodies were found by the Israel Defense Forces in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in August 2024. Autopsies showed that they faced torture and starvation, according to reports. Hamas-led terrorists abducted 251 people during their deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Irish Author Sally Rooney Vows to Donate Proceeds of Work to UK Terror Group Palestine Action
Author Sally Rooney in an interview with “PBS NewsHour.” Photo: Screenshot.
Award-winning Irish author Sally Rooney said on Saturday that she will give proceeds from her books, as well as two BBC adaptations of them, to support Palestine Action, an anti-Israel group that was proscribed as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom last month.
The writer, who is a longtime supporter of boycotts against Israel, made the announcement in an opinion piece for The Irish Times, in which she proclaimed clear support for the designated terror group. “Like the hundreds of protesters arrested last weekend — I too support Palestine Action. If this makes me a ‘supporter of terror’ under UK law, so be it,” she wrote.
“My books, at least for now, are still published in Britain, and are widely available in bookshops and even supermarkets. In recent years the UK’s state broadcaster has also televised two fine adaptations of my novels [‘Normal People’ and ‘Conversations With Friends’] and therefore regularly pays me residual fees,” she added. “I want to be clear that I intend to use these proceeds of my work, as well as my public platform generally, to go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide in whatever way I can.”
Being a member of Palestine Action or expressing support for the group is a criminal offense in the UK under the Terrorism Act, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The group was proscribed in early July after admitting that its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in southern England, spray-painted two jets with red paint, and damaged the jets with crowbars. The vandalism, done in protest of Britain’s support for Israel, resulted in roughly $9.5 million worth of damage, police said. Many of the group’s supporters were recently arrested at a pro-Palestine Action protest on Aug. 9 in Parliament Square, London.
Palestine Action has also claimed responsibility for other incidents targeting companies in the UK that have ties to Israel. The group accuses the British government of being complicit in alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
In the piece published on Saturday, Rooney – the best-selling author of Beautiful World, Where Are You and most recently Intermezzo – further said about Palestine Action: “We owe their courageous activists our gratitude and solidarity. And by now, almost two years into a live-streamed genocide, we owe the people of Palestine more than mere words.” She said she would gladly publish her support for Palestine Action in a UK newspaper, “but that would now be illegal.”
Rooney also claimed the British government “has willingly stripped its own citizens of basic rights and freedoms, including the right to express and read dissenting opinions, in order to protect its relationship with Israel.” She added, “The ramifications for cultural and intellectual life in the UK … are and will be profound.”
In 2021, Rooney refused to sell the Hebrew translation rights of Beautiful World, Where Are You? to an Israeli publisher because of her support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. In 2024, she was one of more than 1,000 authors who vowed to boycott Israeli publishers and institutions. She was also among the many celebrities who called for a ceasefire to end the Israel-Hamas war weeks after the latter’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Trump Administration Imposes New Sanctions on Four ICC Judges, Prosecutors
A general view of the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, March 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
President Donald Trump‘s administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington ramped up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders and a past decision to investigate US officials.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court “a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare” against the United States and Israel.
Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department. All officials have been involved in cases linked to Israel and the United States.
“United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach,” Rubio said.
The second round of sanctions comes less than three months after the administration took the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions on four separate ICC judges. It represents a serious escalation that will likely impede the functioning of the court and the prosecutor’s office as they deal with major cases, including war crime allegations against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The ICC, which had slammed the move in June as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judicial institution, and the office of the prosecutor, did not have immediate comment.
ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Israeli officials have adamantly denied the allegations, noting they’re targeting terrorists who attacked Israel first and embed their military infrastructure among civilian areas.
In March 2020, prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by US troops, but since 2021, it has deprioritized the role of the US and focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and the Taliban forces.
The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the U.N. Security Council.
Although the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in its 125 member countries, some nations, including the US, China, Russia, and Israel, do not recognize its authority.
It has high-profile war crimes investigations under way into the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Venezuela.
The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system.
Guillou is an ICC judge who presided over a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the court’s two deputy prosecutors.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement welcoming the US sanctions.
Canadian Judge Kimberly Prost served on an ICC appeals chamber that, in March 2020, unanimously authorized the ICC prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since 2003, including examining the role of US service members.
Global Affairs Canada and the office of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ICC sanctions, including against Prost.
The Trump administration‘s dislike of the court goes back to his first term. In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court’s work on Afghanistan.