The fire that Israel Katz ignited on Channel 14 continues to burn within the IDF leadership | Nachman Shai

The calm after the storm that has passed in the last day can be misleading. Everything has seemingly returned to its place in peace. The Minister of Defense released a statement to the media, praised the Central Command commander Avi Bluth, shared compliments with him, and seemingly everything came to an end. To an end? Who are you fooling? Nothing of the sort.

The bad blood spread by the irresponsible words of Minister Katz on the 'Patriots' program and his definitive announcement that the Central Command commander already has a replacement, another general, Dado Bar-Kalifa, cannot be hidden and does not need to be. They cast a heavy shadow on the functioning of the Minister of Defense of the State of Israel. Moreover, they raise big question marks regarding the ability of the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff to work together for one day. Words and camouflage nets of all kinds will not help here. This rift will not be possible to heal, and the price — yes, we said the price — we will all pay.

Minister Katz was appointed in place of Yoav Gallant, and his first task was to bring about the resignation of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. Not managing the war, not building and rehabilitating the army, and of course not investigating the events of October, lest some discovery be released regarding the Prime Minister and his part. Katz had a goal — Halevi's head. And indeed, from the first moment, he went for his head. He provoked him with statements to the media, blocked his appointments, and created an atmosphere of distrust around him.

Herzi Halevi surrendered and resigned, and Major General Eyal Zamir entered in his place. He was from the beginning the preferred candidate of the Prime Minister, as he served as his military secretary. The Prime Minister announced happily: 'The time of the Zamir has arrived', but Katz did not let Zamir 'chirp' for too long. In the first minute, he demanded the dismissal of IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, stopped his promotion to Major General, and failed his mission to Washington.

Everyone knows that this was not the reason for it. The opposite. Hagari performed his role in the best way possible. He managed to preserve, on the ruins of trust between the people and the political and military leadership, a measure of trust that was so essential during wartime. He was balanced, reliable, and professional. All this was a thorn in the eye of the Prime Minister and consequently his executor, the Minister of Defense.

According to the police model

Whatever Zamir's opinion of Hagari may be, he had to stand his ground. From the moment he gave in at the first test, the way was broken. Katz began to stir the public pot as his predecessors did not dare to do. Seemingly, to ensure that the generation that failed in the war would not advance, but in practice to promote those who found favor in his eyes.

He had a bad model to imitate, the Israel Police. The police had already fallen before, and its ranks were broken. Katz fell in love with this model, except that one cannot compare the significance of the fall of the police to the real danger to Israel's security.

Katz was given a great opportunity; he could have acted differently: to declare a hundred days of grace, to learn the army closely, to tour, to listen, and then to stand before the public. I had the opportunity to work with two Ministers of Defense at the beginning of their path — Moshe Arens and Yitzhak Rabin, of blessed memory. Both entered their roles slowly, thoroughly, and did their work faithfully. They knew the depth of the importance of Israel's security, the weight of every word, and the sensitivity of every action.

These were worthy models to imitate. But Katz decided that he would be his own model. He made countless arrogant statements, disturbed the Chief of Staff at every step, and finally, the Minister of Defense of the State of Israel votes in the Knesset in favor of a law that prevents the arrest of Haredi draft dodgers. In complete contradiction to the army's position.

Katz did not defend the Chief of Staff before his fellow ministers who attacked him publicly. When the Chief of Staff said that he pointed out the army's needs and that the draft law does not satisfy them, Katz was not there to echo his words and give them political backing. He was busy with his political affairs and canceling administrative arrests to find favor in the eyes of the Judea and Samaria settlers.

Is the Hebrew mother worried

Netanyahu knew why he chose Katz, and he did not disappoint him. Netanyahu has a bad record with previous Ministers of Defense: Yitzhak Mordechai, Avigdor Lieberman, Ehud Barak, Naftali Bennett, and recently Yoav Gallant. As someone who calls himself 'Mr. Security', he manages it alone, as proven in the submarine affair or in setting a huge defense budget without consulting anyone.

Katz sat nicely in this niche. On the merits, when looking at a two-year term, it is impossible to find a real achievement, something with which he could go to the public. The Ministry of Defense became a springboard to the Prime Ministership in the 'day after'. The 'day after' in the Likud is a day that never ends. Netanyahu leads behind him a group of claimants to the crown who promise they will run, but the day never arrives.

Katz was a good minister in the Ministry of Transport, but his choice to go to other ministries — Finance, Foreign Affairs, and now Defense — exposed him to the general public and harmed him. His status weakened. However, gentlemen, the matter is absolutely not the personal future of Minister Katz. What determines is that Israel, which is in a state of ongoing war, is experiencing a bitter conflict in the political-security leadership. Katz is responsible for this.

In IDF camps and bases, it is customary to hang the words said in 1963 by David Ben-Gurion: 'Let every Hebrew mother know that she has entrusted the fate of her sons to the worthy commanders'. Are the Chief of Staff and the IDF commanders ready to sign this statement today?