“The army intelligence directorate underneath my command didn’t dwell as much as our mission,” Haliva mentioned in a letter shared by the Israel Protection Forces on Monday. He mentioned he has “been carrying that black day ever since, day and evening. I’ll dwell with the horrible ache of the battle on daily basis.”
Hamas deliberate for the extremely coordinated assault for greater than a 12 months, constructing its battle plans from open supply supplies and repeatedly drilling its troops, Israeli investigators said in November. Israeli intelligence did not detect these preparations and didn’t heed warning indicators that emerged within the hours earlier than the assault, early critiques discovered.
The assault surprised Israelis and instantly raised questions in regards to the nation’s intelligence and protection capabilities. The Washington Put up reported final 12 months that regardless of data coming to mild in August that an assault was imminent, warnings have been dismissed, and the communities on the Israeli aspect of the border have been by no means notified a few menace.
Navy leaders in March launched a preliminary overview of the military’s efficiency on Oct. 7, which left some cities combating on their very own for hours. And consultants say they count on there finally to be a proper, impartial investigation of all facets of the disaster alongside the traces of the 9/11 Fee in the US after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist assaults.
However these efforts have been largely deferred as Israel continues to combat Hamas in Gaza and fend off missile assaults from Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
Politics, too, are enjoying a job. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assist has plummeted amid anger that Israel’s longest-serving chief failed to forestall the assaults. Many Israelis have known as on him to resign, both now or when the battle has wound down. With combating easing in Gaza, a majority of Israelis mentioned the time had come for these accountable to step down, in response to a survey published last week by the Israel Democracy Institute.
Netanyahu has deflected questions on his personal accountability and insisted formal inquiries wait till a later date.
The resignation of Haliva, who titled his announcement “Duty and Termination of Place,” was seen by some as an indication that momentum for accountability was constructing.
“Together with authority comes heavy accountability,” opposition chief Yair Lapid mentioned in post on X Monday, praising Haliva’s resignation as “justified and honorable. It could have been applicable for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the identical.”
The prime minister’s workplace declined to remark.
Haliva’s resignation had been long-expected. The 38-year veteran of the Israel Protection Forces publicly took accountability for the intelligence failures 10 days after the assaults.
Haliva had been given an in depth briefing in Might 2022 on findings that pointed to a large-scale Hamas assault, in response to a report by Israel’s public broadcasting network. On the day of the assault, intelligence displays detected Israeli SIM playing cards activated by Hamas, resulting in a state of affairs evaluation name with the army chief of workers. Haliva was on trip in southern Israel and didn’t take part on this name, in accordance to the Israeli media.
He introduced in November that he would step down as quickly because the progress of the war in Gaza allowed, reportedly telling colleagues his “days have been numbered,” in response to native media stories.
The tempo of combating in Gaza — which has killed greater than 34,000 Palestinian in six months, in response to Gaza well being authorities — has eased in current weeks. Whereas Israel mentioned it intends to return for an assault on the ultimate Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza, it has for now pulled most troops from the enclave.
“Time has elapsed and the battle is being slightly bit much less forcefully fought and [Haliva] is definitely the primary one to take accountability for what occurred,” mentioned Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of army intelligence analysis. “Individuals have a look at it this and ask, ‘Who’s subsequent?’”
Haliva will formally go away the function as soon as his successor is appointed, the IDF mentioned.
Dror Ashram, the daddy of Shay Ashram, a soldier who was killed in a army outpost on Oct. 7, instructed Israeli public broadcaster Kan that Haliva’s resignation was not sufficient. He “must be tried. He failed. When my daughter was murdered, he was sleeping in his mattress.”
“I count on everybody to resign, from the intelligence officer of the division to the prime minister,” he mentioned.
A deep overview of the Oct. 7 intelligence failures is crucial, mentioned Kuperwasser, who now heads the Institute for the Analysis of the Methodology of Intelligence. Indicators that ought to have alerted the analysts have been missed, and a few within the system didn’t communicate up and a few officers discounted warnings from their juniors.
“They’d doubts they usually mentioned ‘we don’t to be seen as crying wolf,’” he mentioned. “The system wants a stage of humility. If you happen to don’t know for positive, cry wolf. Look what can occur once you don’t.”
Hassan reported from London. Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.