Jerusalem, Apr 22 (EFE).- Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva on Monday announced his resignation, taking responsibility for the Oct.7 failure to prevent the Hamas attack that left 1,200 people dead.
“Haliva, in coordination with the chief of the general staff, has requested to end his position, following his leadership responsibility as the head of the intelligence directorate for the events of Oct. 7,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“It was decided that Haliva will end his position and retire from the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), once his successor is appointed in an orderly and professional process.”
Haliva thus became the first high-ranking official to resign due to the failures surrounding the Hamas attack, following which the army initiated an internal investigation at the end of February.
The findings of the report are expected to be presented to the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, in June.
Haliva, with 38 years of service in the Israel Defense Forces, assumed part of the blame for the slow response against thousands of Hamas militants in October.
On that day, the Palestinian Islamist group took control of more than a dozen Israeli communities.
The ongoing internal investigation seeks to analyze the response of the army both before and after the attack, as well as their deployment on the ground and the operational procedures used to neutralize the fighters.
According to a survey published on Monday and conducted between April 14 and 17 by the Israel Democracy Institute, 62 percent of the Israeli population—both Jews and Arabs—believes it is time for those responsible for the failures on Oct. 7 to resign, more than six months after the attack. EFE
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