After your complaint, the inspectorDefense Minister Yisrael Katz today (Wednesday) instructed Chief of Staff Herzli Halevi to cooperate fully with the State Comptroller, who is examining the events of October 7.
The Minister of Defense instructs the Chief of Staff to allow the State Comptroller access to any material that may be required, and to cooperate fully with the audit process.
""A situation in which it appears that the IDF is afraid of criticism and the required public transparency given the severity of the events that occurred on October 7th while the Chief of Staff was in command of the IDF is impossible," said Katz.
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In addition, the Minister of Defense reminded the Chief of Staff of his directive to complete the investigations being conducted by the IDF by the end of this month and to present to him at a faster pace the investigations that are already ready, so that he can examine them and determine their impact on the planned rounds of appointments in the IDF.
Following his announcement that he would not approve the appointments of generals in the IDF until the investigations are complete, the Defense Minister added: "Due to the delay in presenting the investigations and the fact that substantial investigations, including the events of October 6 and 7, have not yet been presented - there is great difficulty in approving even appointments at lower levels, which have an overall impact on IDF activity.".
The Defense Minister's office says that because of this, the minister has decided to approve at this stage only appointments up to the rank of colonel that will be presented to him and reviewed by him, and that he intends to summon the Chief of Staff to a meeting to discuss the issue.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman sent a letter to Herzi Halevi on Monday in which he addressed the conduct of the Chief of Staff's Office in the review process on the 12 issues agreed upon between the two to be examined at this stage - and claimed that "the IDF is intimidating witnesses in the investigation into October 7th.".
In a letter to the Chief of Staff, the Comptroller detailed the conduct that harms and disrupts the audit procedures, contrary to the practice of state audits of all audited bodies, including the IDF, for decades.
The inspector said: "I contacted the Chief of Staff and told him that I expect that everyone who comes to inspect the state will be allowed to give their testimony without being threatened, especially in the army, which is something that is very important. Also, for example, the issue of the military investigations - we still have not received them, including those submitted to the Minister of Defense, and there are materials that have been collected and we expect cooperation that is much more significant, even from the army, out of the understanding that this is very important for the State of Israel.".
