Israeli chief of staff skipped key security meeting despite Netanyahu’s instruction

Israeli media reported on Wednesday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir failed to attend a sensitive security meeting earlier this month, despite a direct instruction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for him to be present. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later issued an inaccurate explanation for his absence, prompting further scrutiny.

According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan), the meeting, held on 9 November, focused on what officials described as Turkish attempts to expand regional influence. Senior political and security officials — including the Chief of Staff — had been invited.

Zamir’s office requested that he be excused on the grounds of a “personal event”, a request that was rejected by the Prime Minister’s Office, which insisted that he attend. Nevertheless, Zamir chose not to participate.

The IDF spokesperson initially stated that Zamir’s absence had been “pre-arranged due to a family event”. However, Israeli media later revealed that the Chief of Staff had instead attended the wedding of the daughter of the head of the IDF Manpower Directorate, Major General Yaniv “Dado” Bar-Haliva. Several senior army officers were present at the wedding.

The discrepancy raised questions over why the Chief of Staff had failed to comply with the prime minister’s directive, and why the IDF spokesperson had issued a misleading explanation. The spokesperson later said the earlier statement was “an unintentional error”, citing confusion between two wedding invitations.

In a subsequent clarification, the IDF stated that Zamir’s absence had been “notified and coordinated in advance”, rejecting accusations of “deliberate negligence or misrepresentation” by the spokesperson.

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