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JERUSALEM: Israel’s military on Sunday announced the appointment of a new spokesman to replace Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who became the face of the country’s war effort and is due to step down.
A military statement said that the newly sworn-in chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, “has appointed (Brig. General) Effie Defrin as the IDF spokesperson.”
As a tank battalion commander, Defrin “fought and was wounded in the Second Lebanon War” in 2006, the statement said, adding that he went on to serve in “key roles,” most recently as head of the International Cooperation Division.
Defrin’s predecessor, Hagari, became a household name after the war with Hamas erupted in October 2023, briefing the media and the general public almost daily — and sometimes several times a day.
The army announced on Friday that Hagari would be stepping down at the end of his term in March.
According to the Israeli media, he had decided to leave the army because the new chief of staff refused him a promotion.
Some statements Hagari made during the war triggered criticism from the government.
In December, Hagari apologized for publicly criticizing a bill that would protect soldiers who disclose classified information to the prime minister.
He also prompted a knee-jerk reaction from the government in June when he said that Hamas cannot be eliminated.
“To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes,” Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13 broadcaster, adding: “Hamas is an ideology, we cannot eliminate an ideology.”
His comments were quickly rebuffed by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.