Entire Israeli Security Command to be Sacked after 10/7 Debacle Defense Minister, heads of Shin Bet, IDF to resign

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Haaretz reported the expected “bloodbath” that will wipe out virtually the entire senior echelon of Israel’s intelligence and military apparatus:

The IDF chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet and some of his organization’s top officials, the current and previous commander of the army’s Southern Command, the head of the Operations Division, the commander of the Gaza Division and other senior officials all had roles to play in the failures of October 7. It is likely that they, too, will be forced to draw the same conclusions as Haliva [and resign].

Though it is common in many nations for political and military leaders to take responsibility for major security failures by resigning, this is virtually unheard of in Israel.  No one is responsible. No one accountable. Therefore no one is to blame. The failure either wasn’t a failure at all; or doesn’t matter if it was.

In the case of the 10/7 catastrophe, things will be different. On that date,nearly 1,200 Israeli were killed by Hamas fighters and 250 hostages taken, heads are beginning to role.  The IDF intelligence chief has already resigned; as has the chief of Central Command.  As well they should.

An intelligence analyst in Unit 8200 and an IDF spotter surveiling Gaza each reported unusual activity and alerted their superiors with their suspicions that a major operation was planned.  The IDF also intercepted a Hamas planning document, Jericho Wall (as in “the walls of Jericho came tumbling down”) which outlined its entire strategy for the attack.  Senior officers discounted it.

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Israel, which prides itself on not only its military might, but its ability to penetrate the best-kept secrets of its enemies, failed disastrously on 10/7.  It spent billions on an integrated surveillance-defense system meant to spy on every movement of virtually every Gazan–in order to protect Israeli security.  Hamas, in turn, devised ingenious ways to either destroy or circumvent all of these technological defenses.

There is one key figure not included in this list: someone who bears ultimate responsibility for this tragedy. Someone who will never take responsibility, nor ever resign: Bibi Netanyahu. In fact, one might argue that this dramatic housecleaning is meant as a message to Israelis that the boss is in charge. That he is cleaning house to ensure this never happens again.

Of course, it will happen again because Netanyahu’s hubris will tempt him into further misbegotten decisions. In fact, former Shin Bet officer, Avner Barnea, says that the Israeli destruction of the Iranian consultate, killing two senior IRG generals was also a major intelligence failure, Israeli security analysts predicted Iran would react in the low key manner it had in the past to such Israeli assassinations.  It did not anticipate Iran would launch direct attacks on Israel from its own territory (rather than via proxies):

It appears that Israel’s assessment of the Iranian response to Mahdawi’s assassination was a strategic failure. It appears more likely that the Israeli War Cabinet was provided with an incorrect assessment by the nation’s intelligence community, and less likely that it was provided with an correct assessment, which it then decided to ignore. There is concern in Israel that the intelligence assessment was once again wrong, after the colossal failure to anticipate the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

As long as Bibi remains at the top of the command structure, nothing changes. No matter who replaces those resigning.

Now, it is time to pay the piper. Tikun Olam is reporting for the first time the names of all the senior officers and officials who are targeted for removal:

• Yoav Gallant, defense minister
• Maj Gen Yehuda Fuchs, Central Command chief (West Bank)
  
• Ronen Bar, Shin Bet chief
• Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, military Intel chief (AMAN)
  
• Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, Southern Command chief (Gaza)
  
• Brig Gen Eliezer Toledano, former Southern Command chief
• Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff
• Brig. Gen Yossi Sariel, Unit 8200 chief (SIGINT)
• Brig Gen Avi Rosenfeld, Gaza Division chief
• Brig. Gen. Oded Basyuk, IDF Operations Division chief
• “Oscar,” nom de guerre of Shin Bet chief for Gaza

Notes on their security responsibilities relating to 10/7:

The Shin Bet is tasked with infiltrating Palestinian militant groups, recruiting informants and identifying targets for arrest or assassination. Both the agent responsible for Gaza “Oscar” and his boss, Ronen Bar, will resign because their massive failure was instrumental in permitting 10/7.  “Oscar” is known as a brutal interrogator, who tortured Palestinian abductee, Dirar Abusisi, who the Shin Bet mistakenly believed was responsible for capturing Gilad Shalit.

AMAN, the IDF intelligence division, and its chief, Maj. Gen. Haliva, were responsible for monitoring military threats posed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It, along with other key commanders failed to provide the intelligence that would have spurred the army to act and prevent the attack.

The IDF Southern Command is responsible for the Gaza sector.  It is tasked to lead combat against the Hamas fighters who invaded Israel.  It failed spectacularly when Hamas resistance rampaged through southern Israel for days, initially facing little or no resistance.  One of its observers detected complicated military training and operations by militants in Gaza, a report which the current and former commanders, Yaron Finkelman and Eliezer Toledano rejected.  Therefore, they pay with their jobs.

IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi assumes overall failure for the debacle as the army’s top officer, who appointed the subordinates who failed on 10/7.

Yossi Sariel commanded the largest, most secret intelligence unit in the IDF, Unit 8200.  He embarrassed the army by privately and pseudonomously publishing a book which described many of the advanced technological, signals intelligence methods it developed.  Because he did not sufficiently protect his identity, it was exposed by the Guardian.

Though Yehuda Fuchs‘ responsibility was for the West Bank, not Gaza, he commanded the troops supporting the anti-Palestinian pogroms and expulsions there over the past year.  Among them was the Netza Yisrael battalion, composed of Hilltop Youth (Judeo-messianist settlers). They were responsible for killing an elderly Palestinian-American citizen and other atrocities. The State Department plans to add the army unit to its sanctions list.

Fuchs was a particular target of the settler extremists who threatened his life and demanded his removal, which Netanyahu refused. The danger was taken so seriously by the Shin Bet, that he was assigned a security detail. This had never been done with any prior senior officer.  Fuchs’ resignation would go a long way to mollify the politically powerful settler lobby.

“Don’t cry for me,” Israel

And let no one be sorry for these men (they are all men, of course). They will not fade into oblivion. They will not eke out a living off their pensions.  Instead, they will land with their feet planted firmly on the ground and their pockets full of cash.  They will found technology start-ups. They will become CEOs of cybersecurity companies. They will join the boards of technology and energy companies. They all have a rich payday in store. They will not want for anything–despite their major mistakes which cost the lives of 1,200 Israelis and led to a genocidal war and the murder of 34,000 Palestinians. Had they done their jobs, none of it would have happened.