Israel sees wave of senior Israeli army officers resign

The head of the Israeli occupation army’s Spokesperson’s Unit, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, has announced his resignation despite the continued Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza, according to Tamir Morag of the Israeli website Now 14. A wave of other senior army officers in the unit have also resigned.

The unit is responsible for providing information about the Israeli occupation army. Those who have resigned include the second-in-command of Hagari’s team, Moran Katz, a civilian who works as a spokeswoman for the Israeli occupation army with the rank of colonel. She resigned because, “Things are not going well on both the professional and personal levels.”

Among those who have announced their resignation is General Richard Hecht, the Israeli army’s spokesperson for foreign media affairs. Scottish-born Hecht is a veteran and announced his resignation after being replaced in his role, which he was allegedly told about in a harsh manner. Merav Granot also resigned after not being promoted, along with Tzupia Moshkovich.

Before Hagari was appointed as spokesman for the occupation army, he commanded Shayetet 13 marine commando unit and was assistant to Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot. In the past, he was also head of the office of the then Chief of Staff, and now member of parliament, Benny Gantz.

Hagari was appointed as army spokesman despite not serving in any sort of position within the unit. This in itself is not rare, but his relationships with former chiefs of staff who belong to a particular political party raises questions, causing unrest within the unit. However, it is likely that he was the reason for the resignation of several senior officials.

According to journalist Morag, the matter is complicated because this is a military regime, and sometimes officials reach retirement age and leave their positions without a specific reason. Nevertheless, the number of officials who announced their retirement at one time during a war is out of the ordinary.

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