Fiery MK Gottlieb Demands Air Force Chief Be Dismissed Amid Gaza War Fallout
MK Tali Gottlieb demands the ouster of IAF Chief Tomer Bar amid escalating tensions with Southern Command’s Yaniv Asor over Gaza operations and battlefield strategy.
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In a scathing statement on X today, Knesset Member Tali Gottlieb called for the immediate dismissal of Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, citing a series of failures that, in her view, have endangered Israeli soldiers and undermined national security.
Gottlieb laid bare her distrust: Bar allegedly failed to prevent pilots from refusing orders, showed “zero readiness” to support the southern border during a wildfire crisis, and claimed ignorance of the deadly Nova fire because "there are no cell phones in the bunker, and the TV wasn’t working." She condemned Bar for overreaching into ground operations and siding with civilian warnings over military necessity.
Her frustration echoes a deeper institutional conflict unfolding within the IDF’s leadership. In a recent high-level meeting at Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv, tensions boiled over between Bar and Southern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor.
Bar accused several proposed airstrikes in Gaza of being “unprofessional,” prompting Asor to retort, “You figures in Tel Aviv are disconnected from the field.”
The clash escalated to shouting, forcing Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to step in, calling Asor’s tone “unacceptable”.
This feud is no mean squabble, it's rooted in diverging philosophies of war. Southern Command insists on aggressive, broad airstrike authority to decimate enemy infrastructure and pressure Hamas into compliance. The Air Force, under Bar, has pushed back when strike plans risk excessive civilian harm or stray from military discipline.
Gottlieb contends that Bar’s cautious posture “handcuffs the fighting spirit,” emboldens terrorists, and betrays soldiers on the ground. “His bleeding-heart approach weakens us,” she wrote.