Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz sought to walk back his announcement that the army’s Central Command chief would be replaced, insisting on Monday that the move had been initiated months earlier on the recommendation of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Anadolu reports.
According to Israel’s Channel 15, associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contacted Katz after his televised interview on Sunday to seek clarification over the circumstances surrounding the appointment.
Katz was quoted as telling Netanyahu’s associates that the uproar was “a storm in a teacup.”
“I didn’t dismiss him. Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir requested the appointment of Dado Bar Kalifa as his successor, and now he’s turning against me,” Katz said, according to the broadcaster.
Katz later issued a statement calling reports that he announced the dismissal of Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth “an absolute lie,” saying the process of appointing Bar Kalifa had begun months earlier based on Zamir’s recommendation.
