Israel’s top general on Sunday announced that several senior Israel Defense Forces officers would be dismissed from the military over their roles in the failures of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched an attack into southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and more than 250 others taken hostage.
Some of the officers who were sacked included Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk, commander of the IDF’s Operations Directorate, and Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, commander of the IDF’s Southern Command.
“On the morning of Oct. 7, the IDF failed in its primary mission — protecting the civilians of the State of Israel,” Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the IDF’s Chief of the General Staff, said in a statement. “I have decided, after careful consideration, to implement command measures regarding commanders holding certain positions who served on October 7.”
Gen. Zamir said the IDF leaders, several of whom had already resigned from the military, had devoted years of service to Israel.
“These are individuals who dedicated their lives to Israel’s security, including those who looked at the failure head-on, recovered and led the IDF to unprecedented achievements,” he said. “These personal conclusions are a necessary step in the recovery and growth process we must undertake as a military.”
The head of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomar Bar, and the Navy, Vice Adm. David Saar Salma, were both reprimanded but not sacked. Gen. Bar was criticized for failing to defend Israel’s airspace against low-altitude threats on Oct. 7 while Adm. Salma failed to prevent a sea-borne Hamas attack on a beach in southern Israel that resulted in the death of more than a dozen civilians.
“This is a severe, resounding, system failure, relating to decisions and conduct on the eve of the event and during it,” the IDF said in a statement.
Gen. Zamir said the IDF has a responsibility to rebuild and prepare for the challenges ahead.
“We must ensure that every lesson is implemented, that we act proactively to stop threats as they form, driven by a deep commitment to the security of the nation and its citizens,” he said. “We must ensure that the events of October 7 never happen again.”
