The Israeli military intelligence chief has resigned over his “leadership responsibility” for the Hamas-led October 7 attacks into southern Israel, which led to the killing of 1,200 people and another 250 kidnapped.
Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first senior military figure to step down over the Hamas attacks on October 7, which was the deadliest day for Israel since its founding.
“It was decided that MG Aharon Haliva will end his position and retire from the IDF, once his successor is appointed in an orderly and professional process,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday, thanking him for his 38 years of service.
In October, Haliva admitted to an “intelligence failure” by his unit in not alerting the Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
“During my visits to IDF Intelligence bases over the last 11 days, I have repeatedly said that this war began with an intelligence failure. The Intelligence Directorate, under my command, has failed to alert this terror attack launched by Hamas,” Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said then in a letter to IDF’s intelligence personnel.
“We didn’t fulfil our most important task, and as the head of the Intelligence Directorate, I take full responsibility for this failure.” These were Haliva’s first comments since the attack.
