The Commanding Officer of the 91st Galilee Division, Brigadier General Shay Klapper, warned Military Intelligence Directorate Commander Major General Aharon Haliva several months before the Hamas massacre of October 7 that his division did not have enough troops to counter a potential surprise attack by the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
The confrontation, according to a report by Yossi Yehoshua for Ynet, took place between Klapper and Haliva in a hall filled with the most senior IDF officers.
Klapper stood on the stage and warned that in the event of a surprise attack, "the mission - to protect the communities of the north" would be nothing but an empty slogan.
Haliva dismissed the concerns and said that if such an attack occurs he and the rest of the General Staff could resign.
According to Yehoshua, the commanders who were present at that meeting have been unable to forget it since the war broke out on October 7.
While Hezbollah did not launch a surprise attack from Lebanon, the Hamas terrorist organization did launch such an attack from Gaza, murdering over 1,200 people and taking over 240 people hostage. Israel was caught by surprise and unprepared for such a massive cross-border attack.