IDF Chief accepts ‘full responsibility’ for failures on October 7th

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

At a Memorial Day ceremony at the Western Wall, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi declared that he assumes full responsibility for providing answers to families of slain soldiers.

“As the commander of the Israel Defense Forces during the war, I bear responsibility for the fact that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel on October 7.”

Halevi added, “I feel its weight on my shoulders every day, and in my heart, I fully understand its meaning.”

He addressed grieving parents directly and described the attack on October 7th and the ensuing war in Gaza.

“I am the commander who sent your sons and daughters to the battle from which they did not return, and to the posts from which they were kidnapped,” Halevi said.

“I carry with me every day the memory of the fallen, and I am responsible for answering the sharp questions that keep you awake,” he says.

“I did not know all the fallen, but I will never forget them. I did not have time to visit their homes, but I will always be committed to you — the parents, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, spouses, grandfathers and grandmothers,” he continued.

“I stand humbly in the face of your bravery to stand up to the pain, to find the strength in everything in the shadow of the heavy loss, and to bring new meaning into the void that opened up,” Halevi declared.

He added, “In this war, we are determined to complete the mission, even though we understand the cost.”

In January, Israel’s State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman launched an investigation into the failures that led to the Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel and massacre on October 7th.

Englman requested Halevi in a letter to open access to classified military information and data concerning the interaction between the military and political officials before, during, and immediately after October 7th.