When Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military's chief of staff, sat down for Shabbat dinner at his mother's home in central Israel on Friday, no one at the table had any idea what was about to happen. Things changed sooner than expected.
A few hours later, the general was driven in an unmarked car to an underground military command center in Tel Aviv, where he directed Israeli forces to strike Iran, according to two Israeli military officials, The New York Times reported. The orders reportedly included the assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the officials said, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the information, the outlet reported.
Mastermind Behind Khamenei's Killing
"You are authorized to execute," General Zamir told his forces, according to Israel's military. "Strike your targets — you're making history." General Zamir, 60, has become a central figure in the joint Israeli-American operation. He helped craft war plans alongside his American counterparts, coordinated with Israeli political leaders and Arab security officials, and oversaw the execution of airstrikes, according to military sources.
"He's running the entire operation," said Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom, a former senior Israeli military strategist.
Current and former officials say he has long focused on the threats posed by Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen, while exploring ways for Israel, the United States, and Arab nations to work together to counter them.
"He sees Iran as the head of the snake," said Brig. Gen. Guy Hazut, who previously served under Zamir. "The idea is that if you strike at Iran, you weaken all its proxies surrounding us."
A native of Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, Zamir has held multiple top positions in the military, including commanding operations in the Gaza Strip.
Former colleagues say that Zamir's time commanding a tank division was a formative experience, giving him a ground-level perspective on warfare.
He became Israel's chief of staff in March last year, appointed in part to help restore public confidence in the military after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which is widely seen as one of the country's most significant intelligence failures.
Zamir had previously warned that Israel was unprepared for a "heavy, long, multifront battle," noting in 2021 that the military lacked the "critical mass" of soldiers needed at the time.
Crushing Hamas
Zamir later led a campaign against Hamas in Gaza that drew heavy international criticism, with Israel's airstrikes resulting in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths and widespread destruction. The Israeli military maintains that it does not intentionally target civilians and blamed Hamas for embedding fighters among them.
Just three months into his tenure, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran's nuclear program, sparking a 12-day conflict in June. Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes, killing dozens of Israelis, while Iran reported hundreds of deaths, including women and children.
The conflict marked a turning point for Zamir, as Israel confronted Iran directly rather than its regional proxies. For years, both sides had engaged in covert strikes by land, sea, air, and cyber operations.
Zamir had advocated expanding these efforts, and in a 77-page paper for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he called for a focused campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and for a regional defensive alliance against Iran.
"It is important to act strategically with partners and act unexpectedly to create surprises and uncertainty and generate apprehension both in Iran and among its proxies," he wrote.
In the weeks leading up to the current campaign, Zamir held a series of meetings with top U.S. military leaders.
In January, he traveled to Washington to meet with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and discussed intelligence and battle plans with Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, the U.S. military branch overseeing the Middle East, according to Israeli officials.
The two commanders share a close working relationship, with Zamir even hosting Admiral Cooper for Shabbat dinner in Israel.
Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute, who worked with Zamir in the 2020s, described him as candid and straightforward, someone who speaks his mind.
That honesty extends to senior Israeli politicians. Zamir previously served as military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While both agree on the need to confront Iran, they have clashed in the past. When Netanyahu planned an invasion of Gaza City in August, Zamir raised concerns about Israeli hostages and the strain on his soldiers.
He has also pushed for greater enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Israelis, despite delays in legislation.
"He's not a yes man," said Moshe Tur-Paz, a centrist lawmaker on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "Professionalism matters to him more than political loyalty."
