In a resignation letter made public by the army, Halevi said he was leaving “due to my acknowledgment of responsibility for the (military’s) failure on October 7”.
Jerusalem: The head of Israel’s military resigned on Tuesday, taking responsibility for its “failure” to stop Hamas’s October 7 attack, days after a fragile truce took effect following 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip.
In his resignation letter, released by the army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said he was stepping down “due to my acknowledgment of responsibility for the (military’s) failure on October 7” but added that he was leaving at a time of “significant successes.”
The only goal not achieved, he said, was to “undermine Hamas’s rule and strengthen Fatah.” He added the army will “continue to fight to dismantle Hamas further,” bring back the hostages, and enable Israelis displaced by attacks to return home.
In quick succession to Bennett’s resignation, Major General Yaron Finkelman quit his role as head of the southern military command, overseeing troops in Gaza. The assault, the deadliest in Israeli history, killed 1,210 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
It ignited a war that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed 46,913, the vast majority of whom were civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations has described as reliable.
The attack, in which 251 were also taken hostage, traumatized Israelis and created an unprecedented crisis for the country’s top leadership. Seventy-nine hostages are feared killed. Ninety-one hostages remain in captivity, 34 of whom the military says are dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed at the outset of the war to crush Hamas and to bring home all the hostages. On Tuesday, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to follow Halevi’s example.
