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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Giltman served some 700 days in reserves as a \u201ccombat manager\u201d and the chief of staff for the 162nd Division, which operated in the Gaza Strip for many months amid the war.<\/p>\n \t Born in Zaporizhzhia in the Ukrainian SSR, Giltman joined the IDF Armored Corps in 1991. He later served as commander of the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade and deputy commander of the 162nd Division. His last role in the IDF before retiring in 2022 was military attach\u00e9 to Russia.<\/p>\n After being released from the IDF, Giltman participated in a Brothers in Arms press conference, a group made up of reserve soldiers that played a key role in mass protests against the government\u2019s judicial overhaul plans in 2023.<\/p>\n At the event in March 2023, Giltman said: \u201cI have served until today, both in active duty and in the reserves, because of an unwritten contract with the state. I am not willing to serve in a place that is not a democracy. You are putting us in a dilemma.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement on Friday morning, Katz said: \u201cWhoever advocates refusal will not serve in the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n The defense minister said he had informed Zamir that he \u201ccategorically rejects\u201d the promotion and appointment of Giltman, whom he claimed was \u201cone of the leaders of Brothers in Arms, who called for refusal to serve in the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who preaches or encourages refusal will not serve in the IDF and will not be promoted to any position,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \t For its part, Brother in Arms issued a statement Friday slamming Katz as the \u201cminister of draft dodging,\u201d pointing its finger at the defense minister for the government\u2019s proposed law<\/a> to entrench broad exemptions from conscription for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael Katz, who is pushing a [draft] evasion scheme for tens of thousands of Haredim, dares to disqualify a senior officer with 30 years of dedicated service to the state,\u201d said the group.<\/p>\n \u201cGiltman, who served dozens of days in reserve duty [each year, before the war] and who reported for duty immediately on October 7 \u2014 he is Katz\u2019s enemy,\u201d Brothers in Arms said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut draft dodgers who declare \u2018we will die before we enlist\u2019 \u2014 for them, he hands over an evasion scheme. There has never been a defense minister who harmed the country\u2019s security and the fighters\u2019 morale like the minister of draft dodging. Katz does not fight Israel\u2019s enemies \u2014 he fights the heroes who defend it,\u201d the protest group added.<\/p>\n \t Giltman on Friday claimed that he was \u201cnever part of the Brothers in Arms movement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems someone is misleading the minister,\u201d he told Army Radio.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in the Armored Corps Soldiers for the Defense of Democracy movement. I did not call for refusal or for not volunteering,\u201d he said, referring to another protest group.<\/p>\n He said that the press conference that he participated in, in which he was wearing a Brothers in Arms t-shirt, \u201cwas of all the reservist movements, and I did not speak there about refusal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince I was released from the IDF, I have been doing reserve duty, including during the war,\u201d Giltman told the radio station. \u201cI was asked to return to permanent service, and for me, this is an important and moral matter, just as I have acted for the good of the state for 33 years until today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that the truth come out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \t Katz had previously said he would not approve any promotions and appointments in the military that are not brought to him beforehand for review.<\/p>\n The defense minister has been engaged in a months-long, escalating campaign against Zamir over senior IDF appointments by selectively promoting officers and denying the appointments of others with whom he apparently does not see eye to eye.<\/p>\n Last month, the two traded barbs publicly after Katz ordered a re-investigation of the military\u2019s external review of its earlier internal probes into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.<\/p>\n In response, Zamir accused Katz of political interference and harming the military\u2019s preparedness<\/a> by freezing senior promotions \u2014 which the defense minister must approve \u2014 for 30 days.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later met separately with Zamir and Katz to try and defuse the spat, and they have attended security meetings together despite the tensions.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tCol. (res.) German Giltman (center) is seen with other members of the \u2018Brothers in Arms\u2019 reservist protest group, during a press conference in Tel Aviv, March 21, 2023. (REUTERS\/Amir Cohen)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-09-23-at-20.56.25-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA photo provided by an anti-government activist shows judicial overhaul protesters in Tel Aviv holding up a banner during a weekly rally, September 23, 2023. (Gilad Furst)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F251112CG32-e1764329541560-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPolice detain an ultra-Orthodox man during a protest against Haredi enlistment to the IDF outside a military recruitment center in Jerusalem, November 12, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Col._German_Giltman_Israels_defense_attache_to_Russia-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tThen-Israel\u2019s defense attach\u00e9 to Russia, Col. German Giltman, on February 26, 2020. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
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