A senior reservist officer on Saturday slammed Defense Minister Israel Katz’s decision to block his promotion and appointment to a new role as a “political decision, not a professional one.”

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced a round of senior promotions and appointments on Thursday that included giving Col. (res.) German Giltman, who retired from the IDF in 2022, the rank of brigadier general and a senior role in the Ground Forces. Katz took issue with this appointment, citing Giltman’s apparent involvement in the Brothers in Arms protest group prior to the outbreak of the war.

Katz, in addition to rejecting outright the promotion of Giltman, has frozen all senior appointments in the IDF amid a fight over probes into the military’s failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The defense minister has been fighting a months-long, escalating campaign against Zamir, which has centered on senior appointments and drawn accusations from some military officials that Katz is trying to politicize the army, as well as claims that he is trying to pin all the blame for October 7 on the army and absolve the government of responsibility.

In a message to officers in the 162nd Division, where Giltman has served for more than 700 days in reserves, he wrote that he will remain in his current reservist role.

“The entire General Staff Forum expressed full support for my candidacy, but unfortunately, Minister Katz decided to disqualify the appointment. This is a political decision, not a professional one, and that is how it should be regarded,” Giltman said in the message,........

© The Times of Israel