Israeli military chief of staff Halevi resigns over Oct. 7 failures
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has sent a letter announcing his resignation as of March 6 over the failure to prevent the Oct. 7 2023, Hamas attack.
The Israeli military's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, announced Tuesday he was resigning from his position over the failures of the Israeli military to prevent the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday, Halevi said he will resign effective March 6, after two years and two months in office. He also said in his letter he was resigning in keeping with his promise since Oct. 7, 2023, to take responsibility for the failure that allowed Hamas to invade southern Israel.
"My responsibility for this terrible failure accompanies me every day and every hour. This will continue for the rest of my life," he wrote. Halevi added that he had made the decision to resign a long time ago but waited for the right timing, “when the Israeli military has the upper hand on all fronts and the deal for bringing back the hostages is on its way.”
Shortly after Halevi's announcement, the head of the Israeli military's southern command, Yaron Finkelman, also announced his resignation.
Finkelman wrote, “On Oct. 7, I failed to protect the Western Negev, I failed to protect the beloved and courageous residents of this region. This failure will be forever etched in my heart."
Katz expressed his appreciation for Halevi’s many years in service “and for the part he played in the great achievements of the Israeli military in this war that was forced upon us.”
The head of the opposition party Yisrael Beitenu, Avigdor Liberman, called on Netanyahu and the rest of the cabinet ministers "to take responsibility and follow in the footsteps of Halevi."
Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben-Gvir hailed Halevi’s resignation, saying, "I’m expecting the nomination of a strong and aggressive new chief of staff, one who will lead us to defeating Hamas."
The first Israeli military commander to resign over the Oct. 7 failure was intelligence head Aharon Haliva, who quit his position last April. The heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad agencies have taken responsibility for the Oct. 7 failures, but have not indicated they would resign.
This developing story has been updated since initial publication.
