Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa, who was appointed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to head the investigation into the "Jericho Wall" document, has spoken publicly for the first time about the probe's findings.
Numa made the remarks, reported by Kan News, at an event at the Palmach Museum.
Numa was tasked with examining the intelligence failures that preceded the October 7 massacre, particularly the military's handling of Hamas' invasion plan, which had been in the possession of Israel's defense echelon for years. He said the investigation is focused not only on what happened, but more importantly on why it happened and what lessons must be learned for the future.
"I, in my great sins, am now investigating on behalf of the Chief of Staff why we failed to understand Hamas's plans - plans that were placed at our doorstep - for nearly a decade," Numa said. "We failed to realize that we did not understand Hamas. We are trying to investigate in depth what happened, why it happened, and we are beginning to understand."
Numa also criticized an exaggerated reliance on technology instead of on human expertise.
"I was very shocked to discover that in the units, on October 7, there were very serious people who believed signalers could be replaced by a technological device called STT which converts speech to text," he said. "Instead of having an Arabist who understands the language, understands the culture, and knows how to interpret what he hears, they thought they could replace him with a machine which would translate the words."
"The real issue is our ability to understand where we live and what we need to do to ensure we remain here and secure the future of our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren."
Numa also noted that the investigation is examining the military's decision-making culture, explaining, "We're looking at how to do more with what we have, how to understand things in-depth, and how sometimes you need to know how to improvise as well. It would be good to bring some of the Palmach spirit back into the IDF - not in a romantic sense, but in terms of its mindset, initiative, and creativity."