Israeli army beheading: despite knowing about Hamas' aggression plan, IDF leadership remained passive

There were dismissals at the top of the Israeli military this week, ordered by General Eyal Zamir, the new Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The dismissals came as the public became aware of, as early as two years ago, from the Israeli press - N12, Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel - that the Hamas aggression of October 7, 2023 had been documented and that the information had been communicated by a young Mossad officer to those in the IDF, as early as July 2023. Israeli media reported immediately after the aggression that the officers in charge of the army had discussed with representatives of the Shin Bet Police a few hours before the attack about a possible threat to the Nova music festival, but no one warned the festival organizers. Despite all the warnings, including those received, according to The New York Times and The Times, by the Israeli army regarding the entire assault plan devised by Hamas that the terrorist organization "followed with shocking precision”, no preventive measures were taken, on the grounds that the act of aggression would have been too complex for the organizational capacity of that terrorist group.

It is very likely that this assessment was correct, that is, the organization did not belong to Hamas, but to a power that was capable of coordinating such a complex action.

The passivity of the Israeli army allowed Hamas to kill over 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023 and take approximately 200 hostages whom it held captive for almost 2 years, during which time some of them died in the tunnels in the Gaza Strip, following torture, beatings and rapes inflicted on them by members of the terrorist group.

During this time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose seat was shaking in the fall of 2023 due to the multiple anti-government protests in Israel, maintained his position during the period of retaliation against the Palestinians.

The above situation was the subject of the report prepared by Sami Turgeman, a report that was the basis for the dismissals at the top of the Israeli army ordered earlier this week by General Eyal Zamir, the new Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). According to Israeli media reports, Zamir has launched an unprecedented purge of the military leadership: commanders, generals, heads of directorates, former heads of command have been removed from the ranks of the Israeli armed forces, sanctioned, and those who have retired have even been expelled from the military reserve.

Among those directly affected by Zamir's measures are the former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, General Aharon Haliva, the former commander of the Southern Command, General Yaron Finkelman, the former commander of the Operations Directorate, General Oded Basiuk - all expelled from the IDF reserve service. Other previously resigned officers, such as the former commanders of Unit 8200, the Analysis Directorate, and the Gaza Division, have also been officially removed from the military reserve. Numerous other officials, including current commanders of the Air Force and Navy, have been given official reprieves, meaning they are barred from any promotion indefinitely. Eyal Zamir has refused to dismiss them, citing the need for operational continuity, with Israel simultaneously engaged in confrontations on multiple fronts.

General Shlomi Binder, the current head of military intelligence, has only received an official reprimand, despite the fact that Sami Turgeman has called for his dismissal, but Zamir has justified his retention by publicly declaring that replacing him now "would be a huge irresponsibility.” Why? Because Binder is now the man who must rebuild the failed service.

Politically, however, the contrast is devastating: no government official has paid. Not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Not National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Not Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. No member of the security cabinet has resigned, not even symbolically. The only severed heads are military. That is why more and more voices are now calling for a state commission of inquiry.

These sanctions come after the conclusions of the Turgeman report, a meticulous internal investigation led by retired General Sami Turgeman, who spent months analyzing the IDF's internal investigations into the failure of October 7, 2023. The findings are devastating: a third of the IDF's investigations were classified "red,” meaning they were completely unsuccessful; almost half were "orange,” meaning incomplete or superficial; only the remaining ones were considered satisfactory. The report makes clear that there were precise strategic and tactical warnings of an imminent attack by the Hamas terrorist group, including alarming documents and analyses, that were ignored or downplayed. A culture of complacency, self- illusion and overconfidence paralyzed the command structures. Eyal Zamir himself officially admitted, stating that the IDF "failed in its fundamental mission" and that there was a "serious systemic breakdown on the night of the attack and during it".

More seriously, the Turgeman report shows that the IDF knew about Hamas exercises, about the operational plans called "Walls of Jericho" and about the preparation of the capture of hundreds of hostages. Unfortunately, after the aggression of October 7, 2023, there was no collective resignation of the Israeli military leadership. Some military decision-makers left their positions alone, only after public pressure began to grow more and more. No one, neither from the military nor from the political camp, has taken responsibility for the failure of October 7, 2023.

That is why the measures ordered by Eyal Zamir are decisive: they represent the beginning of an official responsibility. But they are not enough. Because the truth cannot stop at the military level. Political responsibility remains untouched. No one in the government has been sanctioned, although the army shows in black and white that the attack could have been prevented.

That is why, for the first time in Israel, the current leadership of the army is publicly calling for the creation of a national commission of inquiry with legal powers. Because, if it is not followed through, October 7, 2023 is nothing but a dangerous historical precedent. And Israel cannot afford that.