A new poll, conducted by Direct Polls for the Forum of Commanders and Reserve Combat Soldiers, shows that an overwhelming majority of Israelis believe that Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, should not lead professional investigations of the IDF's performance on October 7th.
The survey data show that 46% of the entire sample and 42% of Likud voters believe that an external committee of Brigadier Generals and Major Generals in the reserves should lead the investigations.
Thirty-four percent of the entire sample and 42% of Likud voters prefer that the State Comptroller lead the investigations. Only 17% of the entire sample and 7% of Likud voters agree that the current Chief of Staff lead the investigations.
Regarding the question of what should the incoming the Minister of Defense deal with at this time, 40% of the entire sample and 37% of Likud voters believe that a change in the attitude of General Staff officers and new appointments are the key to the Minister of Defense’s success.
Forty-two percent of the overall sample and 56% of Likud voters evaluate his success in comparison to the effective management of combat in various locations. Only 12% of the overall sample and 3% of Likud voters consider an increase in the defense budget to be a significant factor for success.
The survey also examined public attitudes towards appointments that the Minister of Defense Katz should make in the General Staff Forum. Sixty-one percent of the overall sample and 81% of Likud voters support the appointment of commanders and a Chief of Staff with a more offensive approach. Only 29% of the overall sample and 12% of Likud voters believe there is no need to change the current command approach.
The Forum of Commanders and Reserve Combat Soldiers responded to the survey results, stating that: "The shocking data emerging from the survey clearly indicates that about 80% of the public believes that the current Chief of Staff should not continue to lead the investigations. The public is expressing a clear demand to transfer leadership of the investigations to external and objective hands, in order to restore the public’s trust in the IDF, which has been severely damaged in the last two years."
In addition, a significant portion of the public supports implementing a personnel change in the General Staff and appointing commanders with a more offensive approach. This demand reflects the expectation for a substantial change in the military leadership's approach to lead offensive and decisive actions against security threats.
The Forum also stated that, "the public expects the security system to focus on effective combat, streamline military leadership, and restore a sense of security. We call on the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, to lead a significant change in the IDF leadership, mainly to dismiss the Chief of Staff, who has failed to lead the army in the current war. The IDF must focus on defeating Hamas and our other enemies. We are confident that the Minister of Defense will know how to act responsibly, professionally, and in a balanced manner, to implement the necessary changes in the best possible way possible. The forum of Forum of Commanders and Reserve Combat Soldiers will continue to strive for a strong, offensive, and decisive army."