Former Military Intelligence Directorate Director General Aharon Haliva blamed the Shin Bet (ISA) for the failure to prevent and react to the October 7 attack committed by the Hamas terrorist organization.
In a recording published by Channel 12 News, Haliva stated that he would have agreed with the assessment of other senior IDF intelligence officers on the night between October 6 and October 7 2023 that Hamas was not initiating a large-scale attack, but he had not been woken up that night as the signs of an impending attack began coming in.
According to Haliva, any senior IDF intelligence official who now claims that he would have concluded that a major attack was underway before 6:30 am on October 7 is a "liar."
While shifting blame from the IDF intelligence, Haliva stated that the agency that "should have gotten one agent up that night was the Shin Bet. Where were you, Shin Bet, with all of your billions?”
The full recording will be aired tomorrow evening.
Haliva was one of the first senior IDF and defense officials to resign in the wake of the intelligence failures that led to the October 7 massacre. In November 2023, he stated: "The Military Intelligence Directorate, under my direction, failed at its primary objective of providing an early warning of war.”
Haliva officially stepped down in August 2024, one year ago. "We did not live up to our sacred oath," Haliva said in his tearful farewell address. "I did everything to be a loyal soldier of the IDF and the State of Israel. I was given the greatest privilege to serve the State of Israel and its citizens. On that Shabbat, we did not fulfill the most important mission which we are tasked with, providing a warning of war.”
"The ultimate responsibility for the failure of the Intelligence Directorate rests on my shoulders," he said, noting that he decided to step down in light of the failures of October 7. “The responsibility and setting a personal example is a core value of the IDF, and in leadership in general. Taking responsibility is not words, it must be actions. My decision to end my role and resign from the IDF is the norm in which I was educated."
"I want to take advantage of this opportunity, and while saying goodbye to the IDF to ask for your forgiveness. In my name and in the name of the entire Military Intelligence Directorate, I ask for your forgiveness," Haliva said.