Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has informed Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz that he will be resigning as of March, Hebrew media reported on Tuesday.
Halevi, who succeeded Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi in January 2023, said his decision to step down stemmed from his “responsibility for the IDF’s failure” during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre, in which Gaza terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
“At this juncture, when the IDF has recorded significant achievements and is in the process of implementing a deal to release the hostages, I request to end my position on March 6, 2025,” Halevi wrote to Katz.
The chief of staff vowed in the letter to transfer his command of the military “in a qualitative and thorough manner” to his successor.
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu spoke with Halevi following the announcement, expressing his gratitude for his years of dedicated service, the Israeli government stated.
Netanyahu also thanked Halevi for his leadership in “commanding the IDF in the War of Redemption on seven fronts, which has led to major achievements for the State of Israel.” The two leaders agreed to arrange a meeting in the coming days.
With his resignation, Halevi will become the third-shortest-serving permanent IDF chief of staff after Dan Halutz, who stepped down from the role after some 20 months following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster noted that Halevi requested to Katz that he conclude his position after the first 42-day phase of the current hostage deal with Hamas is expected to end on March 1.
Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, head of the IDF Southern Command, also announced his intention to resign on Tuesday, citing responsibility for the IDF’s failures before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The military’s intelligence lapses prior to the terror attack, as well as its failure to swiftly repel the mass infiltration from Gaza, has prompted a flurry of resignations in the IDF, including by top officials. JNS
{Matzav.com Israel}
Halevi seemed like a nice decent military man. I never heard him get involved and attack Bnei Torah who are sitting and learning.
This resignation comes way too late.
According to former Shabak field commander, Yizhar David, Halevi was informed of the invasion-in-progress hours before the actual invasion occurred. All the Shabak heads gathered together that LEIL Shabbos/Shemini Atzeres to discuss it and inform him.
No one bothered fortifying the border with more forces or even contacting the party-organizers or security guards to move the party-goers from the fence.
In an interview with Oded Harush, Yizhar David stated:
“But those same people who were there and who failed on the 7th and brought about the failure of the 7th are still with us and they will NOT win the war! They CAN’T win the war! Because if you failed on the 7th — it wasn’t just on the 7th. It indicates who you are and what you are and what you did prior. And it also indicates what you’ll do in the future. And there’s another issue…Whoever has PTSD, whoever holds this kind of responsibility and fails…consider how all the time it just sits in his brain…his mind always remains with what happened on the 7th: What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?”
There are other damning indications that Halevi and others knew exactly what was about to happen weeks, or even months prior.
For example, one month before the invasion, Rafael Chiyun, with his superior eavesdropping network, wrote a message to the authorities stating: “Hamas is practicing a parallel invasion of several communities at the same time.”
So…he’s resigning way too late. He failed at his job and then continued when he was in no shape to do so.
And the Shabak did not know???
They did.
Here it is again:
“All the Shabak heads gathered together that LEIL Shabbos/Shemini Atzeres to discuss it and inform him.” Him, meaning Halevi.
And no one did anything.
Halevi refused to call a state of alert and it seems none of the Shabak did anything either — not even a phone call to the party organizers or security right at the fence.
(Yizhar David resigned from Shabak years before this happened. But he’s still in touch with people there, which is how he later found out about this late-night meeting, which took place hours before the invasion. Apologies if that wasn’t clear in the original comment.)
He – and the rest of the gangsters in the Knesset – failed not for “not fortifying the border” but for opening all the borders on purpose – to get those animals into Israel.
Oh, so you trust the Shabak. Really?! That’s your source? You are a real true dummy.
It’s not totally clear whether you’re replying to me or Chacham Tzvi, but if it’s to me, I mentioned sources other than Shabak and even gave an example of one of those sources.
If you weren’t replying to me, then I hope you’ll forgive my mistake.