Israeli Military Intelligence chief, Major General Aharon Haliva has resigned after accepting responsibility for the security failures that let Hamas carry out a successful attack on Israel on October 7. The military said in a statement on Monday.
Haliya was among several senior Israeli military commanders who admitted they had failed to avert the most devastating attack on Israeli soil in history.
“The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I have carried that black day with me ever since,” he said in a resignation letter released by the military.
General Haliva is the first top Israeli official to step down after admitting responsibility for the security failures. He will formally retire after his successor is chosen.
While both the Head of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and his Domestic Intelligence Agency counterpart, Ronen Bar, equally accepted responsibility after the attack, they have continued in their roles, helping Israel to execute its deadliest military campaign in Gaza.
During the Oct. 7 attack, thousands of fighters from Hamas managed to breach Israel’s security barriers around Gaza, catching Israeli forces by surprise as it ravaged the communities near the border.
About 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, a vast majority of them civilians, with hundreds taken as hostages.
The attack soured the reputation of the Israeli military and especially the intelligence services, which had hitherto kept Israeli territory impenetrable.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the resignation, saying it was “justified and dignified.”
“It would be appropriate for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the same,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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