Netanyahu was mistaken to appoint Zamir as IDF chief, officials close to PM claim - KAN

"We made a mistake with his appointment. He is acting too independently and acting the opposite of everything he promised us," the sources commented.

Netanyahu reportedly told Zamir that the military chief is "right about some things, but is still subordinate to the political echelon," during a meeting earlier on Tuesday, KAN reported.

Netanyahu announced on Monday night that he would hold a three-way mediation, but Katz refused, insisting on separate meetings between Netanyahu and other defense officials.

Netanyahu met with Katz before meeting with Zamir.

Tensions escalated on Monday when Katz announced that Defense Ministry Comptroller Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yair Volansky would second-guess a commission that Zamir had established by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Sammy Turgeman to give a final verdict on the October 7 IDF probes, including personal responsibility for top General Staff officials.

Katz was upset at Zamir for not vetting his decisions on each IDF General Staff official with him beforehand.

A source familiar with the matter told KAN that working relations between the pair "have been reduced to the bare minimum."

In turn, Zamir responded Monday night to Katz that he had vetted the entire Turgeman report with the defense minister before presenting it to the public on November 10, and that the consequences for his top commanders are his decision alone, not the political echelon.

The IDF chief took particular umbrage that Katz issued his announcement while Zamir was with soldiers in the field in the North, drilling for potential combat operations with Hezbollah in Lebanon and for potential Syrian invaders.