Israel’s outgoing head of military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, has taken responsibility for the intelligence “failure” of October 7.
“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at his resignation ceremony on Wednesday.
“On October 7, that bitter day that I carry with me on my conscience and on my shoulders, and will carry with me until my last days, we did not uphold the sanctity of our oath,” he stated, the Jerusalem Post reported.
He added, “I chose to dedicate my entire adult life to the security of the State of Israel. I have always done my utmost as a soldier and as a commander to serve the country with devotion.”
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Haliva, 38, who announced his resignation in April, also reportedly called for a national investigation to “understand deeply” the reasons that led to the war.
“If we have experienced successes over many years and then failed, it means that through a true investigation, we will be able to distinguish between success and failure and learn how to act to reduce the chances of failures in the future,” he stressed. “Correction is a vital condition for the existence of our country.”
He was one of several senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, according to a YNet report.
Apology Demanded
Last month Halevi demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologize for comments he made in which he criticized the military for not putting enough pressure on Hamas to achieve progress in hostage talks, Israeli media reported.
During a meeting that was also attended by the heads of Israel’s two main security agencies, the Shin Bet and Mossad, Halevi asked Netanyahu to apologize, Channel 12 reported, as cited by the Anadolu news agency.
Halevi reportedly said: “These words are serious. I demand that the prime minister apologize.”
The resigning head of #Israel’s military intelligence Aharon Haliva says he bears the “ultimate responsibility” for failing to protect Israelis from Hamas’s October 7 attack.https://t.co/bkigk4OyQ6 pic.twitter.com/N0YXY0lh50
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 22, 2024
However, Netanyahu has not apologized, according to the channel.
Haliva will be replaced by Major General Shlomi Binder, who was most recently head of the operations division, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The report said that Binder’s appointment “has been met with criticism from families of October 7 victims who claim that his part in the October 7 failure has not been sufficiently investigated.”
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,223 Palestinians have been killed, and 92,981 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
