IDF Spokesman Defends Chief of Staff Amid Coalition Criticism Over Draft Law
IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Effi Deferin defended Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir following criticism from coalition members regarding Zamir's opposition to the law freezing the detention of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders. In an interview on Nadav Perry's podcast, Deferin described some of the criticism as unfounded and harmful to the entire IDF. "There is criticism, some of it substantive and some not, even cheap. This harms the entire IDF. The Chief of Staff represents the entire army. If you attack him, you attack them. He is not a political figure but a professional, institutional one," Deferin stated.
Addressing the draft evader detention freeze law and Zamir's strong letter against it, Deferin added that it is contradictory to increase the army's burden while simultaneously demanding the establishment of a committee to halt criminal proceedings against draft evaders studying in yeshivas. He noted that Brigadier General Shai Tayeb has repeatedly conveyed this position in Knesset committees as the IDF representative.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Supreme Court temporarily suspended the law's implementation approximately 20 hours after its final approval in the Knesset plenum.
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