Brigadier General (Res.) Meir Finkle, a member of the Turgeman Commission reviewing the quality of IDF probes into the Oct. 7 failure, sharply criticized the IDF investigations conducted under former Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and those led by Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon during the current war.
Kan News published remarks written by Finkle and published in the IDF periodical "Maarchot" according to which "placating the Chief of Staff (Kochavi) was central to presenting the investigations. The investigators felt that it was better for them to follow the Chief of Staff's directives to prove success. The investigators felt that it wasn't terrible if they did not present the problems sharply and critically. This 'culture of lies' stems from the fear that telling the truth would impede the officer's promotion."
With this, he states that the presentation of the 2021 Operation Guardian of the Walls as a great success led to a misassessment regarding Hamas.
"It could be that the long-standing placation phenomenon was exacerbated due to the IDF's general sense of self-satisfaction in the IDF," Frankle added. "Because of this, it could be that the investigators and the senior commanders felt that it was better that they follow the Chief of Staff's principle guidance to prove success, since it wasn't terrible if they did not present the problems sharply and critically."
He also addressed the claims made by Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon: “Solomon presented his investigation and allegations to the Turgeman Committee, which found no factual basis for the serious claims raised in his letter. It appears that the professional shortcomings of the ‘red’ investigation into the General Staff’s performance, together with the absence of a multi-level examination of October 7, were perceived by him as a whitewash. While feelings are difficult to dispute, the claim that Chief of Staff Halevi ‘ran a systematic effort to cover up the investigation’ is entirely unfounded from a factual standpoint."