\nTHE DEADLY aftermath in a Kibbutz Nir Oz home after October 7, 2023. (credit: AMIR COHEN\/REUTERS)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Addressing a core intelligence failure, he said, \u201cOne of the hardest problems before October 7 was the belief that intelligence was omnipotent. It is not just arrogance, it is deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haliva added, \u201cWhen I was asked at 50th anniversary events for the Yom Kippur War whether this could happen again, I said yes. I know what happened at Pearl Harbor, I know what happened on 9\/11, and I know what happened in 1973. I am telling you today, it can happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haliva said his goal in postwar reviews was to push the next such failure from \u201conce every fifty years to once every hundred years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rejected claims that the night before October 7 should have triggered a different response, explaining that with a strong pre-existing \u201cconcept\u201d that intelligence would provide clear warning, reacting to every single report would require keeping \u201c300,000 reservists on duty every day.\u201d He described intelligence as a \u201ccrazy puzzle\u201d in which isolated fragments appear constantly. Israel relies heavily on reserve forces. Large call-ups carry significant economic and social costs and are typically used only when an attack is deemed imminent.<\/p>\n
The cost of terrorism<\/h3>\n According to the recordings, Haliva said the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) had already begun planning to kill Hamas leaders before October 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told, on the last slide of my visit, that after the holidays we were opening a joint reorganization with Shin Bet to collect intelligence on Deif and Sinwar in order to kill them, because every time we prepared a plan they moved, and you have to re-collect on them,\u201d he said, referring to Muhammad Deif, the Qassam Brigades\u2019 longtime military commander, and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas\u2019s leader in Gaza.<\/p>\n
In the most explosive passage, Haliva asserted, \u201cThe fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations. For everything that happened on October 7, for every person on October 7, 50 Palestinians need to die. It does not matter now if they are children. I am not speaking from revenge. I am speaking to future generations. They need a Nakba from time to time to feel the price. There is no choice in this crazy neighborhood.\u201d Nakba, Arabic for \u201ccatastrophe,\u201d is how Palestinians refer to the 1948 war and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Haliva also discussed the hours before the attack, saying his aide called once overnight to report \u201can unusual development\u201d that was being handled by Southern Command and the relevant operations officer, and that he would be awakened again if needed. \u201cThere are Shin Bet documents from that night that say, \u2018In our assessment, the quiet will be maintained.\u2019 Everything is documented,\u201d he said, while insisting the broader issue was the prewar mindset rather than a single night\u2019s missed cue.<\/p>\n
He described IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi as \u201cnot a negligent person, he is paranoid, God help us.\u201d Scheduling an 8:30 a.m. assessment on October 7, Haliva said, reflected that \u201ceveryone feeding him intelligence gave him the sense there was an unusual development, not something immediate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haliva sharply criticized the inexperience of some members of the current security cabinet. He singled out National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, saying, \u201cWhat do you expect such a person to do? Learn. This is a serious profession. Start learning intelligence, operational plans, capabilities, munitions, and other relevant topics. Smotrich did not know what \u2018Nukhba\u2019 was,\u201d he added, referring to Hamas\u2019s elite commando units. \u201cToday, they explained they did not know there was starvation of hostages. How much intelligence do they read? How many briefings do they receive? How many deep security discussions on Gaza did they hold? Check.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether Israel\u2019s policy had rested on his assessment that Hamas was deterred, Haliva said no. \u201cThis prime minister is very attentive, the most attentive person in the world. He listens, he reads. You can also say he is very timid, so he would be alarmed by other things. He does not rush to wars; he does not rush to strike. He had doubts. All of that is fine. But in the end, in the test of results, everything failed.\u201d He did not name Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the clips quoted, although Israeli media linked the remarks to him.<\/p>\n
Bereaved mother Sheli Mashal-Yogev, whose daughter Libi Cohen-Meguri was murdered on October 7 after going to dance at the Nova festival near Re\u2019im, blasted Haliva in an interview with Kan News following the leaked recordings.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince when did taking responsibility become a fig leaf? What is taking responsibility? Take blame,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cHe showed not a drop of anguish. We are the ones in anguish.\u201d Mashal-Yogev said she watched the report twice and could not sleep: \u201cHe says the Shin Bet failed, the government failed, the army failed. Where are you? Thousands were murdered. Libi is buried, and I am tormented. He says, \u2018I took responsibility,\u2019 and goes out with a fat pension?\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cDo not claim responsibility and a minute later fly abroad. Sit humbled in my living room and explain yourself,\u201d and added, \u201cThe word \u2018responsibility\u2019 does not absolve you. You are guilty that my Libi is buried. Take the blame upon yourself. You say \u2018the IDF erred in a years-long concept.\u2019 You are the concept.\u201d She stressed Haliva is not alone: \u201cWe are not absolving the government, the Shin Bet, the police, or the chief of staff. They are all guilty. No one has moved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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