Israeli military intelligence head resigns over Oct. 7 attack failures

Commander of the IDF Military Intelligence Aharon Haliva at a conference of the Gazit Institute in Tel Aviv, November 4, 2022. (Gideon Markowicz/Flash90)

The Israeli military said on Monday the chief of its intelligence directorate has resigned after taking responsibility for failures leading to the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

 

The first senior official to resign is Major General Aharon Haliva, who did not stop the attack that startled Israel and the world.

 

"Major General Aharon Haliva, in coordination with the chief of the general staff, has requested to end his position, following his leadership responsibility as the head of the intelligence directorate for the events of Oct. 7," the military stated in a statement.

 

 

"Major General Aharon Haliva, in coordination with the chief of the general staff, has requested to end his position, following his leadership responsibility as the head of the intelligence directorate for the events of Oct. 7," the military said in a statement.

 

"It was decided that MG Aharon Haliva will end his position and retire from the IDF (army), once his successor is appointed in an orderly and professional process."

 

Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the force, accepted responsibility for his failure to stop the attack in his resignation letter.

 

The IDF provided a copy of the letter to journalists. "On Saturday, Oct. 7th 2023, Hamas committed a deadly surprise attack against the state of Israel," he wrote.

 

"The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with.

 

"I carry that black day with me ever since. Day after day, night after night. I will forever carry with me the terrible pain of the war."

 

In his letter, Haliva called for a "thorough investigation into factors and circumstances" that led to the attack.

 

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to the Israeli figures.

 

Since then, the Palestinian territory's health ministry said 34,097 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign in Gaza, most of them women and children.