IDF Chief of Staff's wife serves as a director at a food company involved in irregularities

Orna Zamir, wife of the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, serves as an independent director at the food company Tomer Mazon, while the IDF is one of the company's largest clients. Tomer Mazon, whose shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, reported earlier this month on alleged problems in handling its inventory, and subsequently, trading in the stock was halted.

The IDF claims that this is a manipulation and that the Chief of Staff was not involved at all in any aspect related to the Tomer Mazon company. Sources in the security establishment state that there are no private contracts between Tomer Mazon and the IDF or the Ministry of Defense from the Chief of Staff's time in his position or as Director General of the Ministry of Defense.

"All contracts during his tenure are the result of a legal win in a tender. All tenders are simple, meaning the cheapest offer won. The appointment of Orna Zamir was carried out about three months ago," those sources explain. "The joining of the Chief of Staff's wife to the company has already been included in the updated conflict of interest agreement, which is signed according to the plan."

Orna Zamir (57) was appointed to her position as a director on May 19 this year. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Tel Aviv University and a master's degree in business administration from the ESG School of Management in Paris. For the past three years, she has served as a communications consultant at the firm oz consulting. She also held senior positions at Alin Beit Noam, the Hod HaSharon Municipality, and the Hod HaSharon water infrastructure company (Mia).

Before the trading halt, Tomer Mazon was traded at a valuation of 138 million shekels. The company's chairman and CEO is Doron David Kimlov (61%).

The company stated in response: "Tomer Mazon rejects any attempt to create a link between the appointment of Orna Zamir to the board of directors and the company's business activity with third parties, including the Ministry of Defense, which began long before Ms. Zamir's appointment."

IDF Spokesperson's response: "This is an invalid and baseless manipulation. The Chief of Staff is not involved and has not been involved in any aspect related to the mentioned company, and has not made any decision regarding it. The appointment of the Chief of Staff's wife was declared in accordance with procedures to prevent even the appearance of a conflict of interest."

This is the second affair revolving around Tomer Mazon recently. The previous incident, which led to a trading halt on August 24, began after the new CFO, Avital Perelstein-Cherny, resigned shortly before starting her role. The company cited "the manner of handling the inventory in previous years" as the reason.

On Sunday, the company announced that the board of directors authorized a committee to discuss the inventory issue with professional consultants. An immediate check is underway to determine the impact on the 2026 financial reports. Tomer Mazon joined the stock exchange three months ago following a merger with the shell company Cifia Vision. The company, founded in 1979, operates in food import and marketing, reporting 244 million shekels in revenue for 2025 (+20%) and a net profit of 3.1 million shekels (+42%).