The chief of Israel’s military announced his resignation, taking responsibility for the failures that led to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, is the latest senior Israeli leader to announce his resignation in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, which killed approximately 1,200 people, took some 250 hostage and sparked the war in Gaza. Halevi made the announcement of his impending exit on Tuesday, the third day of a ceasefire in that war. He will be stepping down March 6, days after the ceasefire’s initial six-week phase ends.
Halevi had previously indicated that he would resign due to Oct. 7.
“On the first day of the war… I took responsibility, out loud, for the IDF’s failure to defend civilians on Simchat Torah 5784,” he said, using Oct. 7’s Hebrew date. “The central goal of the IDF is to defend the citizens of the state. We failed. I have carried and will carry with me what happened on that terrible day for the rest of my life.”
He defended what he said was the IDF’s in-depth investigation of what led to Oct. 7. And he praised the achievements of the military in the nearly 16 months since in its conflicts with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, terror groups in the West Bank and in direct fighting with Iran.
“I am responsible for the IDF’s failures. I am also responsible for the achievements,” he said. “I will say at the outset that I wish those achievements were unnecessary. There’s no achievement that will take away the pain, the suffering and the great loss that was caused on the first day of the war.”
And while he noted the ceasefire, which will see dozens of Israeli hostages be released over the first six weeks, he said the goals of the war had not yet been fully achieved.
“We have not yet returned all of the hostages, and we still have missions to complete against the rule of Hamas and against the group’s remaining fighting and guerrilla capabilities,” he said. “We are very determined to achieve and be decisive.”
He said he is leaving at a moment when the IDF has the “upper hand in all the arenas of war.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he thanked Halevi for his leadership in the war, which “has led to major achievements for the State of Israel.” Netanyahu is expected to choose Halevi’s replacement before he steps down.
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