The IDF’s new chief lawyer, Itay Ophir, will take charge on November 24 and be given the rank of major-general, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday.
Katz had surprised the legal community on November 4, announcing former Defense Ministry chief legal adviser Ophir as the next IDF chief lawyer. The appointment comes following the resignation of Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi two weeks ago, following her admission to allegedly illegally leaking a video relating to the Sde Teiman Palestinian prisoner abuse cases.
The defense minister said last week that it was critical to have an outsider run the IDF legal division, given that not only Tomer-Yerushalmi, but also several other senior IDF legal officials, have been implicated in alleged illegal handling of the video incident, including former IDF chief prosecutor Matan Solomesh.
Setting a start date could end some of the speculation that has surrounded the appointment since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly rebuked Katz for not consulting him on the appointment, and Netanyahu’s son Yair attacked Ophir on social media for various actions or decisions that he thought did not equate with a card-carrying right-wing ideology.
It also comes after Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir was forced over the weekend to appoint Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, the human resources command chief, to temporarily oversee the legal division until Ophir could take office.
Further, it follows a rowdy virtual news conference that Bar Kalifa held with local media outlets, including tough questions about how the legal division could handle the Sde Teiman cases and war crimes allegations from international tribunals if it had no permanent chief.
Ophir was a surprising choice because he has no experience in the area of criminal law, and will be expected to handle aspects of the sensitive Sde Teiman abuse and leak cases.
The IDF chief lawyer is also the lead official dealing with potential war crimes allegations from the International Criminal Court, an area where he has little expertise.
In support of Ophir, significant aspects of the IDF chief lawyer’s role do involve legal advice relating to defense issues, which he has high familiarity with from his 2017-2024 tenure as chief legal adviser.
Zamir did not initially issue a statement about recommending Ophir, which seemed strange given that Zamir is empowered to recommend a candidate to Katz, who Katz can then accept or deny.
However, IDF sources then told The Jerusalem Post that Ophir was one of the names that Zamir had given to Katz as a possible candidate, and given that he was director-general of the Defense Ministry for 2023-2024, overlapping with Ophir, he had significant familiarity with him.
But it turned out Zamir had not responded because Katz decided to issue the announcement before informing Zamir.
Hours later, the IDF finally issued a statement claiming that Ophir was Zamir’s top choice, though it was unclear then why Katz departed from protocol in which the IDF chief first announces his nominee and then the defense minister announces whether they approve or not.
On the other hand, the three leading candidates mentioned until now all had spent time serving in the IDF legal division in the past, but had not served there recently – viewed as a positive combination of being more familiar with the work than a candidate like Ophir, but being separate from Tomer-Yerushalmi.
For example, the lead candidate had appeared to be Brig.-Gen. (res.) Doron Ben Barak, who had served in the legal division in the past, but then had served outside as the IDF chief censor, and has been out of the military in recent years.
Who is Itay Ophir?
Ophir served in the Givati Brigade as a combat fighter and later became a lawyer and worked in the private sector at the top New York law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges as well as the top Tel Aviv law firm Arnon, Tadmor-Levy, before later joining the Defense Ministry.
He was also approved as a potential candidate for attorney-general in the most recent race for the post, though Gali Baharav-Miara was ultimately selected.
On major policy issues, he reportedly has helped over the years try to work out policy compromises between the government and haredim (ultra-Orthodox) over IDF draft issues and the settler movement over localized expansions of Jewish West Bank areas; he helped support the right of then-defense minister Benny Gantz to appoint a new IDF chief despite impending elections (Gantz appointed Herzi Halevi); and he helped move certain complex authorities regarding the West Bank from then-defense minister Yoav Gallant over to Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich to fulfill various coalition agreements.
Most of the responses to Ophir’s appointment were positive, including from opposition party official Gantz.
However, following some criticism of some of Ophir’s decisions and associations, Netanyahu reportedly rebuked Katz for selecting Ophir without consulting him.