Eyal Zamir

Overview

Eyal Zamir (born 1966) is an Israeli military officer and the 24th chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Born in Eilat, Israel, he entered the Armored Corps in 1984 and rose through tank, division and regional commands. He became chief of staff on March 5, 2025, succeeding Herzi Halevi after Halevi resigned over military failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Zamir held no IDF command position when that attack occurred. His appointment placed a former tank commander at the head of the military during the Gaza war and ahead of Israel’s Operation Rising Lion against the Iranian regime.

Early life

Zamir was born in Eilat in 1966. After graduating from the IDF Junior Command Preparatory Boarding School, he joined the Armored Corps in 1984. He subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tel Aviv University and a master’s degree in national security and political science from the University of Haifa. He also completed the Wharton School’s General Management Program. His military education and civilian studies accompanied a career that began in armored combat units and later extended to national defense planning.

Career

Zamir served as a tank platoon commander and an Armored Corps company commander. He was operations officer for the Saar Megolan Division and later commanded its Romach battalion. His other early assignments included command of a tank commanders course and an operations role in another armored division. From 2000 to 2001, he headed the Armored Corps branch at Chief Armor Officer headquarters while commanding the Bnei Reshef reserve brigade. During Operation Defensive Shield, he led that brigade in combat around Jenin in Judea and Samaria. He commanded the Center for Tactical Training at the Ground Forces Training Center from 2001 to 2003.

From 2003 to 2005, Zamir commanded the Saar Megolan Division. Between 2007 and 2009, he led the Etgar reserve division and a course for company and battalion commanders. He then commanded the Gaash Division from 2009 to 2011 and headed the IDF Ground Forces Staff from 2011 to 2012. From 2012 to 2015, he served as military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, linking the military leadership with the prime minister’s office during security deliberations.

As commander of Southern Command from 2015 to 2018, Zamir directed efforts against attack tunnels dug from Gaza by Hamas, a terrorist organization. In August 2017, he announced accelerated construction of Israel’s Gaza border barrier. He described a structure extending tens of meters underground, fitted with sensors to detect tunnel excavation, and a coastal breakwater equipped with a high fence and sensors. Zamir warned that construction and the destruction of attack tunnels could provoke renewed confrontation with Hamas. His command combined border defense, engineering and preparation for escalation.

Zamir served under Aviv Kochavi as deputy chief of staff from 2018 to 2021. He coordinated implementation of the IDF’s Tnufa multiyear plan and managed military assistance to Israel’s civilian sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and Operation Guardian of the Walls. He also advocated investment in artificial intelligence for military applications. Considered for chief of staff in both 2018 and 2022, he was selected in neither round. After a 2021–2022 appointment as a visiting military fellow at the Washington Institute, he became director general of Israel’s Defense Ministry in 2023. Israel announced his selection as the next IDF chief of staff on February 1, 2025.

Ideology and statements

Zamir has emphasized military readiness, public trust and shared responsibility for Israel’s defense. At his March 2025 induction, he described restoring public trust in the IDF as a binding mission. He called on all parts of Israeli society to share the burden of military service and made the return of hostages from Gaza a central military obligation. He also acknowledged that Hamas had not been decisively defeated. Separately, Zamir condemned violence in Judea and Samaria as ethically wrong and harmful to Israel’s security.

His strategic writing focused on the Iranian regime’s regional influence and nuclear ambitions. As a Washington Institute fellow, Zamir developed a long-term plan to undermine that influence while strengthening Israel and its Arab allies. In 2022, he supported action to prevent the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons, including a strike on its territory. During Operation Rising Lion, he identified degradation of Iranian nuclear capability and infrastructure as central to removing what he described as an existential threat to Israel.

Role in attacks or conflicts

Zamir took command after Hamas’s October 7 attack exposed grave failures in Israeli military preparedness. On his first day as chief of staff, he conducted a surprise drill near Beit Hanoun, simulating another Hamas attack. He warned officers to prepare for such an assault and treated readiness at the Gaza border as an immediate command priority. In March 2025, he approved plans to resume IDF fighting in Gaza as Hamas regrouped during a ceasefire. He paired the objective of defeating Hamas with the mission of bringing hostages home, while recognizing that their presence in parts of Gaza affected operational planning.

On April 30, 2025, amid violence against Druze communities in Syria, Zamir directed preparations for strikes against Syrian regime targets if the violence continued. Later that year, he commanded the IDF during Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s campaign against the Iranian regime’s nuclear and military capabilities and a major phase of the Iran–Israel war. He described the campaign as reshaping Israel’s strategic position by degrading the regime’s nuclear infrastructure. Zamir called Israel’s killing of Saeed Izadi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official who coordinated with Hamas, a pivotal moment in the operation.

Death or current status

Zamir is the IDF’s chief of staff. He assumed office on March 5, 2025, following service as Defense Ministry director general. His tenure has included command of operations in Gaza and against the Iranian regime, alongside efforts to restore confidence in the military after October 7.

Legacy

Zamir became the first IDF chief of staff whose military career began in the Armored Corps. An Institute for National Security Studies review found that nine of the 13 chiefs of staff from Moshe Levy through Zamir had served in the Paratroopers or Sayeret Matkal; Zamir was the sole Armored Corps officer in that group. His appointment brought a different operational background to senior command after October 7 and strengthened calls to draw future leaders from a wider range of IDF branches.

Public confidence formed part of the setting for his appointment. An INSS survey in February 2025 found that about 35% of Israelis expressed high trust in the incoming chief. In March, the share reached 50%, an increase of 15 percentage points. Those figures marked an early shift in public assessment, while his longer-term record rests on the IDF’s conduct under his command, its response to Hamas, and Israel’s campaign against the Iranian regime.