Former IDF Chief of Staff MK Gadi Eisenkot (National Unity) has called on IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to resign his position in the near future, and take responsibility for the failures that led to the war.
Speaking in a podcast interview with Nadav Perry, Eisenkot said, "Herzi Halevi held a few positions under my command. He was an excellent Chief of Intelligence and during the time we served together, I appointed him to be the Southern Command Commander, a position where he excelled. But judging by the results of his period as CoS, he is one of the three individuals who shoulder the main responsibility for our greatest disaster and must resign."
When asked when Halevi should step down, Eisenkot said, "I said that during the first break in the fighting, he should do that, and he shouldn't be pressured from above and below him as the political echelon loses faith in him. To his credit, it should be said that he is a very stable person, logical, professional, but he is under the kind of pressure which makes functioning very difficult for him. I think he needs to take responsibility."
Eisenkot added that Halevi deserves much appreciation for all he has done and that he served the IDF with impressive distinction. "A large part of the results and out of the box activity we see in the entire Middle East is to his credit and he deserves golden letters for pushing these plans."
Perry also asked Eisenkot about the new appointments which Halevi is pushing forward, despite his own part in the October 7 failure.
"He needs to come to the bare minimum of meetings - only what he must and is required to do. I think that they are taking a very broad and incorrect path," he said.