👈 Israel’s defense minister, Katz, created confusion with a statement aired on television. He intended to replace General Avi Blout, commander of the Central Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with General Dedo Bar Kalifa, and accused Blout of adopting overly harsh positions against Jewish migrant citizens and undermining the government’s policies.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) quickly reacted to the news and announced that the move was carried out without coordination with the Chief of the Joint Staff, General Ial Zamir, and that Blout would remain in his post because the defense minister does not have legal authority to unilaterally dismiss senior army officers.

Katz later tried to escape the scandal and claimed that he did not raise a request to dismiss Blout and that any claim to the contrary is “a complete lie” and “part of a political campaign that has been organized against the government.”

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