IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin has brought back his predecessor, Daniel Hagari, from his discharge leave, as of Sunday following the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, the military confirmed.
“Daniel Hagari is assisting the IDF Spokesperson’s Directorate, like many reservists who were called up following the launch of the operation, at the request of the IDF Spokesperson, Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.
Hagari will serve as the assistant to Defrin, similar to what Ronen Manelis, Hagari’s predecessor, did in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 massacre in 2023.
He will fulfill his role as the commander of the IDF Spokesperson’s situation room. In practice, according to IDF sources, Hagari will head the operations center and assist with media efforts behind the scenes.
Hagari stepped down three months ago, following the beginning of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir’s tenure, as part of one of Zamir’s first decisions in office. According to defense sources, the tense relationship between the Defense Ministry and Hagari’s office was fraught, stemming from conduct and statements, one of which led to a formal reprimand.
Who is Daniel Hagari, former IDF spokersperson?
Hagari rose through the ranks in Shayetet 13 (the Israel Navy’s elite unit) and eventually commanded it. He also served as the chief of staff’s military secretary and aide. Later, he was head of the navy’s Operations Directorate and, quite unexpectedly, appointed as the IDF Spokesperson.
His composure greatly aided him on October 7 and in the difficult days that followed, when he was called upon to take on a national mission and fill the void left by the absence of a functioning national public diplomacy apparatus, standing before an entire nation and instilling confidence.
At the time, military officials told Walla that the timing of his departure, coinciding with the transition of the chief of staff, gave the move a personal rather than purely professional tone. They argued it would have been more appropriate to first appoint a new spokesperson and then coordinate the end of Hagari’s term accordingly. Still, to Hagari’s credit, his tenure stood out due to his presence at all key battlefronts.
The former spokesperson became an Israeli icon, to the point where children dressed up as him during the Purim holiday, and he became a popular public figure.