Israel’s military chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, has said he will resign in March over the failure to prevent Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
A conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants, especially Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a land, sea, and air assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in more than 1,200 deaths, primarily Israeli citizens, and up to 250 others taken hostage to Gaza. The next day, Israel declared itself in a state of war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
In a letter to Israel’s prime minister and defence minister released by the military, Lt. Gen. Halevi, who has commanded the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) throughout 15 months of war in Gaza said: “As a result of my responsibility for the IDF’s failure on October 7, and at a time when the military has recorded exceptional achievements in restoring Israel’s deterrence and strength, I wish to conclude my tenure on March 6, 2025.”
He noted his and the military’s recent successes, including against Hezbollah in Lebanon, against the Assad regime in Syria, against Iran, and in defeating Hamas’s 24 battalions as well as forcing Hamas into the hostage exchange deal that started this week.
Citing the agreement with Hamas, General Halevi said the timing was “now ripe” for him to leave, since hostages had begun to come home. He will step down after two years and two months in office, about 10 months earlier than the standard three-year term.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had given Halevi a deadline of January 30 to complete internal military probes into the failure to prevent Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack.
More resignations are anticipated in the coming weeks. Aharon Haliva, the head of Israel’s military intelligence, resigned in 2024, as did the head of the Israeli military’s Gaza brigade. Shortly after General Halevi’s announcement, another general — Yaron Finkelman, head of the military’s southern command — said he, too, would resign, although he did not give a date.
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