Aharon Haleva, head of the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate, and one of the main names behind the intelligence gap in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, spoke. Haliva, who repeatedly stressed that she bears full responsibility in her statements in recent weeks, explained the behind-the-scenes of the attack carried out by Hamas.
Haleva said about the first day of the attack: “That morning I realized that everything was over, and I was going to leave my post after the war ended.”
Hidden phone at 2.30pm
Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevy held a red-coded, encrypted telephone conversation via the Israeli Armed Forces with the head of the Israeli Operations Department, Major General Oded Bashiuk, and Major General Yaron, at approximately 02:30 p.m. on Friday, October 6. And Saturday, October 7, Haliva attended this meeting but did not receive.
According to the intelligence discussed at the meeting at the time, the scenario was as follows:
According to assessments made on the basis of signals indicating that Hamas is conducting training near the border, the most dangerous scenario is for Hamas fighters to infiltrate the border and carry out an attack. However, this possibility was described as “small”. Military officials believed that the preparations for the attack were merely a training exercise.
Haliva, who was not allowed to attend the meeting, was then informed at 06:29 a.m., the time when the largest rocket barrage ever was launched from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel.
Israeli press: If he had participated, he would have contributed
The Israeli press criticized the non-participation of other officials, especially General Halevy, in the meetings. Who decided not to include the “Chief of Military Intelligence” in the meeting? In response to the question, the Jerusalem Post wrote that according to information collected from military sources, this happened due to the speed of the decision.
According to the newspaper, Haleva believes that if she had attended the meeting, even if there had been no information about a large-scale attack or declaration of war against Israel, she would have contributed to preventing the attack.
Haleva was already considered a “lame duck” in the intelligence service, and the government had been searching for a replacement for her position for some time.
(tags for translation)truce