Released hostage Yagil Yaakov, 13, responded to outgoing Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, who gave a farewell speech as he resigned his role in the wake of the October 7 massacre.
Yaakov was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz, together with his older brother Or, age 16, and the two brothers were released in the November 2023 prisoner swap after 52 days in captivity. Their father Yair is still held hostage in Gaza.
In an Instagram post, Yaakov wrote sarcastically, "Thanks for the fact that I was kidnapped because of you." In the original Hebrew, it is three short words, making for a powerful statement.
Brigadier General Dedei Simchi, whose son Guy fell in the war, slammed Haliva's farewell ceremony, calling on IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the members of the General Staff to resign due to their part in the failures which led to the October 7 massacre.
"The handover ceremony for the Military Intelligence Directorate chief is the essence of the arrogance, the boastfulness, and the condescension which characterized the IDF and the Intelligence Directorate before the October 7 massacre, and unfortunately in some places - after it as well," Simchi said. Many others said Haliva should have left his post in shame and without any publicity at all.
"This disconnected ceremony burns my soul, as someone who served 33 years in the IDF. In skyscraping chutzpa, as if in a different universe, the IDF holds a ceremony [for the Intelligence Chief whose failure to believe reports allowed the massacre to happen] with hundreds of participants."