IDF Chief of Staff Calls for Investigation Committee Outside Netanyahu’s Control.
According to the security media outlet “Wala News”, Eyal Zamir, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, in a detailed letter addressed to all senior officers yesterday, officially called for the formation of a completely independent and impartial government investigation committee at the government level to comprehensively investigate Israel’s security and military failure on October 7, 2023 (Operation Storm of Al-Aqsa); a committee that, according to him, should be similar to the “Agranat Committee” that was formed after the 1973 (Yom Kippur) War and conducted one of the most profound and influential investigations in the history of this regime.
In this letter, referring to the internal army investigation conducted by “Sami Torgman” into the failure of October 7, he wrote that the Israeli army accepted its responsibility and conducted an extensive internal investigation, but this incident was an internal failure, not just a military one. He added: “It is not appropriate for public and political pressure to focus only on the army and military officials without involving other culprits, including the political structure.”
He emphasized that in order to reach the truth and draw correct and complete conclusions at the domestic level, an independent and impartial investigation committee must be formed from the military and political structures.
Zamir clearly stated that only an independent and fully authorized government investigation committee can examine and evaluate the dimensions of this event before October 7, including the interaction between the political and military structures, security and political concepts, security doctrine, and intelligence warnings provided to senior decision-makers, and determine the joint and mutual responsibilities between different institutions, and ultimately present personal, fair, and truth-based conclusions.
Also, in parallel, the reason why the military structure that sent the warnings did not have the necessary forces and readiness to deal with possible warnings must be examined.
In an important part of the letter, the Chief of Staff of the Army, referring to political and public pressures to immediately impose individual responsibility on army commanders, warned: Imposing personal responsibility on military commanders is an extremely serious and wrong decision and should not be made under the influence of external pressures or haste.
He added: Only a committee formed from outside the army and the political structure, with full legal authority and free from any political or military influence, can make fair and competent decisions in this regard.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army described the October 7th defeat as a “stain” and an “unprecedented systemic failure” internally, saying that the army failed in its main mission, which is to defend Israel and Israelis; a failure that, according to him, was rooted in “existential laziness,” “strategic blindness,” “ignoring Hamas’ comprehensive attack plan, which had been available to the authorities since 2022,” and “the illusion of deterrence.”
This official request from the Chief of Staff of the Army comes at a time when the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced strong resistance to the formation of a government review committee by the Supreme Court of Justice. The publication of this letter has increased the pressure on the cabinet to an unprecedented level and has effectively pitted the military structure of the Israeli regime against the political structure of the regime.
According to IRNA, since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 (Al-Aqsa Storm), Netanyahu has strongly opposed the formation of a government review committee, which is an independent and impartial institution under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Justice, due to political, legal and personal considerations. An issue that has faced widespread criticism from the opposition, the families of the dead, and even the majority of Zionists.