Senior Israeli military intelligence official resigns over October 7 Hamas attack

Yossi Sariel is the second high-profile military officer to quit over the failure to warn the country.

An Israeli soldier in Sderot, Israel, last October 7, after the Hamas-led assault. Picture: Oren Ziv / AFP

A top Israeli military intelligence official resigned on Thursday over his failure to prevent the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, Israel’s military said, the second senior military official to step down after the deadliest assault on the country in its history.

Yossi Sariel, the commander of Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s largest and most important intelligence unit, told his commanders that he would step down in the near future, the military said.

Sariel is the second high-profile military official to resign over the Oct. 7 attacks, after the head of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, stepped down in April.

“On October 7 at 6.29am I did not fulfil my mission as I expected of myself, as my commanders and subordinates expected of me, and as the citizens of the nation I love so much expected of me,” wrote Sariel in a letter explaining his resignation.

The resignations reflect the growing sense among many Israelis that the country’s leaders need to be held accountable for the security and intelligence failures that led to the war and Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Israel’s military is conducting an investigation specifically into the intelligence failures that left Israel surprised when Hamas invaded with thousands of fighters on Oct. 7.

Although Israel’s military has already begun some internal assessments related to the attack, the country has largely deferred investigating its top leaders and public institutions.

The country is divided over who should be responsible for any overarching investigation into the failures that led to the Oct. 7 attacks and when it should start.

Members of Israel’s opposition say it is time for a state commission of inquiry, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has advocated for delaying any major investigation into the matter until after the end of the war in Gaza.

Hamas led an assault that killed about 1200 people and kidnapped around 250 others, Israel says. Israel’s response has led to more than 41,000 deaths, most of them civilians, Palestinian health authorities say, without identifying the number of combatants killed.

Dow Jones Newswires