Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi announced Tuesday that he would resign in early March, citing in part the failure of the army under his command to protect Israelis from Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023.
The heavy toll from the attacks – 1,200 dead in Israel and another 250 taken hostage in Gaza – had long come with expectations in Israel that at least some of the country’s leaders would eventually step down. Only a few officials have done so, and General Halevi is the highest-ranking military leader to resign so far.
“My responsibility for the terrible failure accompanies me every day, every hour and every will for the rest of my life,” he said in a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, announcing the his resignation.
Netanyahu has rejected calls to resign or take full responsibility for the disastrous failure to predict and prevent the Hamas attack. He said he will have to answer “difficult questions” after the war.
General Halevi announced he would resign just two days after Israel and Hamas began a 42-day truce, the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement. Hamas on Sunday released three female hostages held in Gaza since 2023 attacks in exchange for 90 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, jailed in Israel.
Citing the agreement with Hamas, General Halevi said the time was “now ripe” for his departure, as the hostages began to return home. He also said the Israeli army had achieved a number of important achievements, allowing it to withdraw with the restoration of Israel’s “deterrence and strength”.
But he also admitted that Israel’s war objectives – which include the destruction of Hamas and the return of all remaining hostages – have “yet to be achieved”. Following the ceasefire, Hamas forces reasserted control over much of Gaza and most of the hostages are still in the enclave.
Netanyahu has never fully agreed with General Halevi, said Amos Harel, a military affairs commentator for Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. After the Hamas attacks, Netanyahu increasingly tried to pin the blame for the disaster on the military chief, Harel said.
With General Halevi, nominated by the prime minister’s centrist opponents in 2022, out of the picture, Netanyahu’s conservative allies are now hoping for the opportunity to appoint a military chief who aligns more closely with them.
Hardline government figures such as Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, have also criticized military leaders such as General Halevi for not launching an even more aggressive campaign in Gaza. Their criticism was diametrically opposed to accusations made by human rights groups that the Israeli army had committed war crimes.
In a statement, Smotrich praised General Halevi before quickly noting that he had long criticized the general for his “failure in the campaign to eliminate Hamas’ civilian and government powers.” He said he hoped General Halevi’s resignation would herald a more aggressive mindset among military leaders.
“The coming period will be marked by a change in the military high command as part of preparations to resume the war, and this time, God willing, to complete victory,” said Smotrich, who opposed the cease-and-desist agreement fire with Hamas.
More resignations are expected in the coming weeks and months. Aharon Haliva, head of Israel’s military intelligence, resigned in 2024, as did the head of Israel’s Gaza military brigade. Shortly after General Halevi’s announcement, another general – Yaron Finkelman, head of the military’s Southern Command – said he too would resign, but did not provide a date.
Over the past 15 months, General Halevi, 57, who took over the top military post in early 2023, has overseen Israeli forces during the war in Gaza, the ground invasion of Lebanon, military operations in Syria and the attacks in Iran.
Israel has eliminated nearly 20,000 Hamas operatives and decimated the chain of command of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, General Halevi said in a televised statement Tuesday evening.
“The Middle East has changed,” he said. “The threat map has completely transformed.”
The Israeli army will conclude a series of internal investigations into its failure on October 7, 2023, before its departure, General Halevi said. Katz, the defense minister, ordered the military to speed up the process, which was delayed for several months.
But General Halevi said the military’s investigation into its complex failures was inherently limited. He suggested that an independent investigation into the attacks was needed, which Netanyahu has so far refused to call.
Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting from Tel Aviv.