Tel Aviv [Israel], March 2 (ANI/TPS): The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it would present State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman with its internal investigations into the military’s failures of October 7 and in the time leading up to Hamas’s attack.
The IDF said it would share its findings with Englman “as part of the recent dialogue with the comptroller, within the framework of the agreements that were formulated and the IDF’s cooperation with the comptroller’s office.”
The comptroller, also known as the state ombudsman, periodically releases reports auditing Israeli preparedness and the effectiveness of government policies.
According to a series of army probes — summaries of which were released publicly on Thursday — some 5,000 terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad managed to attack numerous Israeli communities and overrun the army’s border positions. The army’s chain of command broke amid the chaos and soldiers were outnumbered. For years, the army misunderstood Hamas’s intentions, and as October 7 approached, intelligence about the looming attack was misinterpreted.
“We did not even imagine such a scenario,” the army official said, explaining that Israel’s attention was focused on threats from Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The army’s probes only deal with issues of operations, intelligence and command, not decisions made by the political echelon.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi announced his resignation and is due to step down on March 5. The IDF Chief of Staff serves for three years with the possibility of a one-year extension. Halevi will be replaced by Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir.
The last time chief of staff to leave the post before the end of his term was Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz who resigned in 2007 over IDF failures during the Second Lebanon War of 2006.
There have been growing calls for the government to appoint an independent commission of inquiry to investigate political and military failures. Such commissions have broader authority to summon witnesses and collect evidence and are headed by a senior Supreme Court justice. They may include personal recommendations about individuals under investigation, though the government is not bound to act on the recommendations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government ministers say a state inquiry into failings that led to Hamas’s October 7 attacks should only be held after the war. Critics accuse Netanyahu of delaying the inquiry and trying to water down the powers of a commission.
After the Movement for Quality Government in Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice to order the government to form such a commission, the justices gave the government a deadline of May 11 to update the justices on its position.
The last state commission of inquiry, which investigated Israel’s worst civilian disaster — a stampede that killed 45 people at a holy site on Mount Meron — held Netanyahu personally responsible for the tragedy in a report released in April.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 59 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead. (ANI/TPS)
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