'My fault': Outgoing Israeli military intelligence chief accepts failure over 7 October attack

In his resignation speech on Wednesday, Israel's outgoing head of military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, took responsibility for his inability to defend Israel during the Hamas-led attack on 7 October. 

Haliva announced his resignation in April after several other senior Israeli commanders including the head of the armed forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and the head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, recognised their failure to foresee and prevent the attack. 

Haliva is the first senior officer in the Israeli army to resign since Halevi and Bar have remained in their respective positions.

“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at the ceremony on Wednesday. 

“On October 7, that bitter day that I carry with me on my conscience and on my shoulders, and will carry with me until my last days, we did not uphold the sanctity of our oath," he continued.

Haliva also called for a national probe to study and “understand deeply” the reasons that led to the war between Hamas and Israel.

Calls for an investigation and independent review of 7 October have been slow due to the ongoing war, and frequently rebuffed by Israeli leaders due to fear of criticism. 

It is widely assumed that the final responsibility for the failures of the 7 October attack rests with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The attack on 7 October, which saw thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups breaking through Israeli security barriers around Gaza and surprising Israeli forces in the early morning hours, tarnished the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence, which was previously considered to be one of the most sophisticated. 

It was initially assumed that 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, most of them civilians, but a Haaretz report last month confirmed that Israeli forces widely employed the "Hannibal directive" on 7 October, which mandates the Israeli army to use any means necessary to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers, even if it involves killing them.

In June, Middle East Eye reported that the Israeli army and intelligence services had detailed knowledge of Hamas’s plan to attack Israel and take captives weeks before the 7 October attack. 

Haliva will be replaced by Major General Shlomi Binder, the former commander of the Israeli army's operations division who has come under criticism for his appointment since he may have been involved in failures related to the attack in October.