Herzog: Security bodies loyal to state, not individuals or camps

President Isaac Herzog asserted on Wednesday that Israel's security and law enforcement agencies serve the state and its citizens, not any single person or political group. Speaking at the National Security College graduation, Herzog emphasized their loyalty to Israeli law and the nation's Jewish and democratic values.

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The security and law enforcement bodies in the State of Israel are not loyal to a person or to one camp or another, but to the sovereign, the people in Israel, to the Israeli book of laws, and to the values of the Jewish and democratic state.

These statements came after David Zini accepted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to lead the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). Zini explained his decision by stating his qualification to be loyal to the elected echelon, irrespective of personal opinions.

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The reason I agreed to the prime minister’s offer to take the position is that I felt I was more qualified than many others in the ability to be loyal to the elected echelon, no matter what opinion.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir also addressed the ceremony, detailing the significant security challenges Israel faces. He described the current period as one of the most demanding the country and its defense establishment have encountered, especially after over two and a half years of continuous conflict that has reshaped the Middle East. Zamir reiterated the critical need to increase IDF enlistment, particularly as the Basic Law: Torah Study advances, a bill aiming to equalize the status of Torah students with those serving in the military. "The IDF needs everyone," Zamir stated, stressing that avoiding the duty of defending the state is both an operational necessity and a moral obligation.

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We must significantly expand the ranks of the IDF, so that it can meet all the missions imposed on it. The responsibility is on all of us, the IDF needs everyone. We must not exempt anyone from the burden of the commandment of defending the state. This is an operational need and a Zionist and moral duty.

Reflecting on the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war, Zamir called it an "operational compass." He noted that the events serve as a constant reminder of the immense responsibility on the IDF and other security organizations, and the severe cost of personal and systemic failures. "Out of this pain, we are obligated to draw lessons, improve, and grow," he urged. Zamir also commended the graduating commanders, recognizing them as a generation with extensive battlefield experience, arriving at their studies "with their shoes still covered in the dust of battle."

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October 7 and the thousand days of war that have passed since are not only a wound, they are our operational compass. They remind us every hour of the magnitude of the responsibility placed on the IDF and on the rest of the security organizations, and of the unbearably heavy price of personal and systemic failures and shortcomings.