‘My fault’: Tearful Israeli military intelligence head leaves post

Jerusalem: The outgoing head of Israeli military intelligence says responsibility for the intelligence breakdowns that allowed Hamas to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7 and sparked Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza rests with him.

At his handover ceremony on Thursday (AEST), Major-General Aharon Haliva said the failures would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Speaking alongside his successor, Haliva said the bitter memories of that day weighed on his conscience “day and night and will do so for the rest of my days”.

The head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate Aharon Haliva has left his post.Credit: Twitter

“We did not fulfil our most important mission, giving a warning of war,” he added, breaking down in tears at one point while he spoke about his family. “The ultimate responsibility for the failure of the intelligence division rests with me.”

In the early hours of October 7, following an intense rocket barrage, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through cross-border security barriers from the Gaza Strip, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through communities in southern Israel.

Major General Aharon Haliva (left) takes responsibility for failing to prevent the October 7 attack.Credit: IDF

Hamas-led militants killed some 1200 people and kidnapped 250 others. The army has come under heavy criticism in Israel for its failure to predict the attack and its slow response on the day. Some 109 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, around a third of whom are thought to be dead.

The 38-year veteran of the military announced his resignation in April and was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the attack.

“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at the ceremony, and he called for a national investigation “in order to study” and “understand deeply” the reasons that led to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The attack badly tarnished the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence services, previously seen as all but unbeatable by armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

The head of the armed forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and the head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, also accepted responsibility in the aftermath of the attack but have stayed on while the war in Gaza has continued.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to press Israel and Hamas to agree to a “bridging proposal” that could lead to a ceasefire.

The two sides see significant differences over the presence of Israeli troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza and other issues, dimming Biden’s hopes that a deal can soon be reached.

Biden “stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure,” the White House said in a statement.

But hope that a deal can be completed, at least in the near term, appears to be diminishing.

On Friday Biden said he was “optimistic” that an agreement could be reached after he spoke by phone with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, whose countries are key interlocutors with Hamas.

But by Tuesday, Biden was notably more muted about the prospects of the two sides coming to an agreement soon. He told reporters after delivering an address at the Democratic convention that “Hamas was now backing off”.

Reuters, AP