Top Israeli intel chief's quitting paves way for wave of resignations

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
23 Apr 2024 11:28
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According to Haaretz, the resignation of Major General Haliva and his call for a probe into October 7 is the last thing Netanyahu wants.

Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi lays a wreath during the commemoration ceremony for killed Israeli soldiers on the 50th anniversary of the October 1973 war at the Memorial Hall, in occupied al-Quds, occupied Palestine, on September 26, 2023. (AFP)

The resignation of the head of the Israeli Military Directorate (Aman) will turn the hourglass on the heads of Israeli security and military chiefs, Haaretz reported.

Major General Aharon Haliva's resignation on Monday stirred up the hornet's nest in "Israel", as Haliva called on other heads of military units to take similar action and accept responsibility for their failure to intercept the Palestinian Resistance's operation on October 7, 2023.

According to Haaretz's military affairs analyst, Amos Harel, a large wave of resignations is building up among top Israeli officers and officials. The analyst believes that the internal rift began to expand in concurrence with the war on Gaza, which he says will lead to a dead end and will not achieve any victory for "Israel".

Harel said that the ongoing trend of resignations has cornered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who continues to evade responsibility for the security failure, adding that Netanyahu's propaganda team will continue to find new officials, other than Haliva, to target.

'Israel' mired in strategic blindness

The analyst, like others in a substantial portion of the Israeli settler community, believes that responsibility should not only be directed at security and military officials but also at political officials who employed the policies and laws that led to October 7. Specifically, Netanyahu has been the target of onslaught for Israelis, who believe he is to blame for the failure.

The policy led by Netanyahu's "Israel" for years has been to divide and deepen its relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) while neglecting Hamas, which built its strength in the Gaza Strip, according to Harel.

In the duration preceding the offensive, the assessment of the security and military establishment was that Hamas had been "deterred and weakened," which Hermel termed as "strategic blindness".

Haliva demanded a comprehensive and official investigation to determine the full circumstances that led to the events of October 7, Harel said.

This request for an investigation can be seen as a hint to the farewell to Netanyahu, the last thing the Prime Minister wants. The Israeli Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said in late December last year that his office would "leave no stone unturned" in its examination into the various failings that happened before, during, and after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. However, the comptroller is yet to reveal the results of the investigation, which might lead to the axing of multiple top-tier officials, thus compromising the Israeli command chain.

Attention back on accountability for October 7

According to Harel, Haliva's request for an investigation hints at Netanyahu's dismissal from office, due to the Prime Minister's failure to prevent the attack.

The military analyst said that lowering the intensity of the war on Gaza, or what he described as "relative calm", has renewed the debate about who is responsible for the October 7 failure and the importance of continuing the war on Gaza.

Following the resignation of Haliva, Major General Yehuda Fox, the head of the Israeli occupation forces' Central Command, informed the Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi that he would retire in August after having held the position for three years.

The Israeli General Staff, composed of top Israeli generals, is falling apart as more officials, such as the commander of Unit 8200, Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, are expected to resign in the upcoming weeks.

More worrying is that the appointment of officials to the vacant positions will prove to be difficult, as their subordinates also hold responsibilities that they failed to meet on October 7. The issue also faces challenges due to the need to secure political backing for the appointment of officials into key positions.