Despite the failure of October 7, Chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, intends to recommend a round of new appointments, thus taking part in shaping the next General Staff. Among others, Halevi is expected to recommend the appointment of Northern Command Major General Uri Gordin as the next Deputy Chief of Staff and the appointment of Home Front Command Commander, Major General Rafi Milo, as the Northern Command Commander. He is also due to recommend the appointment of Brigadier General Nadav Lotan to Ground Forces Commander, following the retirement of Major General Tamir Yadai. A political commentator who spoke to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News expressed outrage at the Chief of Staff's conduct, even calling it "insolence and arrogance,” "Instead of announcing his resignation after the great failure of October 7, the current Chief of Staff who, together with his comrades, are responsible for the misconception that led to the major disaster, dares to continue appointing military personnel in his place." "How can it be that Levi is molding the General Staff in the same image as the heads that led to the bleeding failure of the past year, even before the conclusions of the General Staff's investigations into the outbreak of the war have been published?" Related articles: 'This is all Iran - it's an octopus with arms' I don't want to tell you who was sleeping on October 6th Dismantling Hamas is Israel's national mission 'Half a year has passed, Chief of Staff must go home' State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman delivered a harsh speech at the Bar Association’s conference held in Tel Aviv, in which he stated that all state authorities have been avoiding taking responsibility since October 7 . " The state audit is essential for the security of the country, even in times of war. Now we must honestly point out one of the most difficult and serious outcomes of what happened over the past months since the disaster: a severe and unprecedented erosion of one of the fundamental values in a democratic state – responsible leadership. In Israel, as of September 2024, nobody is bearing personal responsibility and taking action – not at the political level, not at the security and military level, and not at the civilian level. On the contrary, the citizens of Israel are experiencing repeated leaks, that all aim to pass responsibility to others . "However, no less serious than that, there is no criticism, introspection or objective investigation that is progressing without interruptions, obstacles or delays – towards publishing its findings to the Israeli public. This is the same public that demands explanations for the disaster they experienced." "We must look in the mirror and say with all honestly - there was not a single person among the elected officials, public office holders, members of the military and the security forces, who took upon themselves to uphold the value of taking responsibility for what happened. At the same time, some of the public and governmental authorities, within which the value of responsibility has been eroded over many months, were the ones to take action to prevent or delay any objective, professional and unbiased examination, investigation or criticism." According to Engelman, "the military forces, supported by the State Attorney, erected, as a matter of fact, high and impassable walls that prevented any possibility of criticism. The Prime Minister's Office, despite providing materials, still poses obstacles, which delay and disrupt the required professional action that must be taken. State audits during a war are complex, but essential to the democratic fabric of the State of Israel. Our commitment is to all citizens of the state and all ranks will be required to uphold their responsibilities.” The IDF spokesperson responded: "The IDF respects the State Attorney's position and tries to enable any audit, without harming the war effort and attention to command, just as the High Court of Justice determined. In the IDF's response to the High Court of Justice, we insisted that the outline of the audit as requested by the State Attorney, in the midst of a severe war on several fronts, would cause real and tangible harm to the functioning of the security organizations. The IDF even offered to initiate an immediate audit on several issues, subject to security developments, but the State Comptroller rejected this suggestion."
