Almost everything has already happened under this government, including the October 7 massacre. But even this was unprecedented.
On Sunday night, Defense Minister Israel Katz found a novel way to fire a general live on right-wing Channel 14, announcing that the Israeli army's West Bank commander Avi Bluth would be replaced by Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa.
IDF chief Eyal Zamir quickly made clear that he would block the move, reigniting his confrontation with Katz even as the military continues fighting on several fronts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Katz to his role in November 2024. Netanyahu fired the previous minister, Yoav Gallant, in an effort to shift responsibility for the massacre on October 7 onto anyone but himself.
Katz was immediately tasked with two missions, of which he only accomplished the first: making the life of the then-IDF chief, Herzl Halevi, as miserable as possible, which successfully led to his resignation; and pushing to pass draft exemption laws for the ultra-Orthodox, a goal that proved too complex to achieve even for the prime minister himself.
The substantive part of the role did not interest Netanyahu, and it turns out, Katz wasn't particularly interested in upholding Israel's security either. He treated his tenure as a long bar mitzvah trip, posing for combat-ready photos with soldiers every week. He also frequently threatened Israel's enemies. The tone and words he chose, in fact, mimicked the style of many regional leaders.
Katz claimed that his tough and hawkish approach, particularly in his statements, was a direct result of Hamas' attack on October 7: Israel had learned its lesson and must adopt a proactive policy – to preemptively and immediately attack whenever it identifies a threat.
Like Netanyahu, Katz also promotes the concept of security buffer zones, like the ones the IDF has established in Gaza, south Lebanon and Syria, as the new answer to every threat.
To put it simply, Katz's tenure has been quite ridiculous. The IDF's top brass does not take him seriously and the Israeli public, as polls indicate, recognizes his pretense and posturing.
The defense minister's antics have worsened recently. Katz is running in the upcoming Likud party primaries, which Netanyahu is still seeking a way to cancel under a security pretext. It appears Katz fears a disappointing outcome in the ruling party's internal elections and is further influenced by pressure from interest groups, primarily West Bank settlers.
He is making increasingly extreme statements regarding the steps Israel is taking in Lebanon and the West Bank. His declarations are so blatant, so contrary to international law, that the defense establishment has begun to suspect Katz is toying with the idea of an arrest warrant being issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the same issued against Netanyahu and Gallant, in the hope that such a decree would raise his standing among primary voters.
But Sunday's blunder was Katz's most extreme, most panic-stricken performance. The IDF's West Bank commander, Avi Bluth, is a veteran officer who previously served as commander of the Commando Brigade, as Netanyahu's military secretary and as commander of the West Bank Division. The settler mainstream likes Bluth and sees him as one of their own. The major general wears a kippa and grew up in the Neveh Tzuf settlement west of Ramallah, although he now lives within the Green Line.
Operationally, against Palestinian terror, Bluth leads an offensive line: throughout the years of war, the army killed hundreds of combatants in the West Bank, leaving immense destruction in the refugee camps it took control of in the Jenin and Tulkarm.
In contrast, the major general faced criticism for the deliberate easing of rules of engagement (soldiers often use live fire even against stone-throwers) and for inaction regarding the spread of Jewish terror in the West Bank. This is not his sole responsibility; his commanders also bear blame. But Bluth's insistence on presenting the dozens of settler outposts and farms established during his tenure in the West Bank as part of the solution to security threats raised many questions.
The West Bank is currently ablaze, primarily due to settler attacks on Palestinian villages, which have begun to spark a violent backlash. The IDF is finding it very difficult to control the situation and military generals have been forced to deploy more forces there.
The incident in the village of Tell last month, where a provocative settler patrol led violent clashes in which two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed, is the most prominent, but not the only one.
In recent weeks, an ugly smear campaign has been waged against the Bluth, aimed at canceling restraining orders imposed by the IDF on settlers suspected of severe violence against Palestinians. A sharp altercation subsequently developed as Bluth and the State Prosecutor's Office confronted Katz, after the latter withdrew his support for measures taken to reduce the violence.
This isn't the first time Katz has made such a move. Immediately upon taking office at the Defense Ministry, he canceled administrative detentions against Jews in the West Bank, despite warnings from the Shin Bet and IDF that this would deprive them of a central means of deterring Jewish terror.
Katz is hoping to implement in the IDF the same model National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been applying in the police and prison service: he aims to consolidate all decision power in his hands, to demonstrate his power through firings and threats, to intimidate the chief of staff and top IDF generals in the hope they will fall in line with him and to provide zero backing to anyone who does not act according to his demands. Most of the time, the minister is not occupied with security, but with marketing his personal image.
The peak, at least so far, was reached on Sunday night in the studio of "The Patriots" on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14. Katz fell into what appeared to be a planned ambush by the panel members, whose main goal is to advance Netanyahu's interests ahead of the elections. They provoked him over his supposed lack of control over Bluth.
Under the heavy pressure they exerted, Katz visibly panicked and broke. This is the rare case where the use of the phrase "unprecedented" justifies itself. The minister simply announced live on air a move he had been considering for months – announcing Bluth's replacement and effectively removing the incumbent major general from his post, even if the latter part was not explicitly stated.
As expected, it turned out the matter had not been coordinated with the army chief, who heard about it from the media. The IDF spokesman stated after midnight, saying that Bluth acts with courage and sacrifice and enjoys Zamir's full confidence. "The chief of staff does not intend to change key IDF commanders' positions during these sensitive times. Once such a decision is made, it will be taken by the army chief and approved in accordance with the required protocols," the spokesman announced.
The defense minister's office responded with its own statement. Zamir had recommended IDF general Dado Bar Kalifa for the position last April, it was claimed. Katz met with the candidate in June and was impressed by his suitability and now decided "to announce the acceptance of the chief of staff's recommendation and the expected appointment in the next round of appointments."
This is disingenuous, at best, as it was already reported last week that Katz was threatening Bluth with dismissal due to the dispute over the arrest of a violent settler.
For a long time, significant tension has existed between Zamir, Netanyahu and Katz, against the backdrop of constant attacks by ministers and Knesset members from the coalition on the IDF and the army chief, in an attempt to place responsibility on them for the gap between the government's promises and the security reality on the ground.
Zamir, who clashed with the government over the draft exemption laws and the burden on active-duty and reservists, deliberated how far to take the dispute with the government. Katz's reckless move last night left the chief of staff no choice but to oppose him.
Now, the question is whether Netanyahu will order Katz to step back, or if Likud will decide that the confrontation serves its political base and will lead to a prolonged public clash. If Katz announces the date for Bluth's replacement, Zamir will have no choice but to object. In such circumstances, Katz's announced replacement, Bar Kalifa, may also have to forgo the appointment if he wishes to continue enjoying the trust of his commander and colleagues.
It is also worth noting the media's role in the affair. Katz's move is so blatant and unacceptable and so detached from what is happening on the ground that even many journalists identified with the right wing harshly criticized him last night and this morning. Anyone who insists on defending the defense minister's position and tries to explain that there are two sides to the confrontation is simply acting according to the talking points from Netanyahu's and Katz's offices.