A significant portion of the IDF's internal investigations into the October 7th failures were already presented to the Chief of Staff last weekend, and additional complementary parts of the investigations are expected to be revealed tomorrow. This was reported today (Sunday) by journalist Amir Buhbut in Walla.
Tomorrow morning (Monday), the General Staff will present the Operations Division's investigations, led by Major General Oded Basiuk and former Head of Operations Brigade, Brigadier General Shlomi Binder.
Last Friday, Intelligence Division investigations were presented, including those from Military Intelligence's senior staff, Research Division, Unit 8200, and other units.
Additional IDF sources who were exposed to the investigation findings on Friday told Walla that unlike previous handling of investigations and media publications, "the era of interpretations is over. Now we rely on recordings, photos, numbers, timelines, data that cannot be interpreted or manipulated by any party. And the truth? It hurts... everyone."
Meanwhile, as we reported in Kikar HaShabbat, political sources interpreted Minister Katz's decision to delay appointments and changes in the army's personnel as a hint to the Chief of Staff to draw personal conclusions following the investigations, but the Defense Minister's office denied any agreements or statements on the matter between the Minister and the Chief of Staff.
According to the published announcement, "Defense Minister Yisrael Katz instructed Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi to complete the investigations into the October 7th events by the end of next month and to submit all completed investigations to him."
"The IDF is obligated to complete the investigations promptly to present them to the families and the Israeli public, and for the purpose of drawing lessons and necessary conclusions."
Additionally, the Defense Minister informed the Chief of Staff that he would not approve new general appointments to the IDF until he receives the investigations and understands their meaning and potential impact on promotion candidates.
Despite the general atmosphere in the IDF's senior leadership about taking personal responsibility and resigning following the revealed findings, senior IDF officers assessed that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi does not intend to resign before completing his term.
This contradicts many previous claims about lessons learned, including from the Chief of Staff's side.
Additionally, senior IDF sources believe it will not be possible to complete the General Staff investigations of the war according to the Defense Minister's timeline - which set completion by the end of next month - and therefore the Chief of Staff may request an extension for some investigations.
As a reminder, in a dramatic letter sent by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to IDF commanders, he possibly hinted at his intention to resign soon from his position as part of drawing personal conclusions about the October 7th failures, military conduct before and during the war, and the personal responsibility that comes with it.
The background to the letter comes following sharp disagreements with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, who froze the appointments of two senior officers whom the Chief of Staff wanted to promote.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi strongly criticized the Defense Minister's decision to freeze the appointments of two senior IDF officers to examine their connection to the October 7th events and their performance during the war.
"Appointing officers to positions is not a privilege, but rather a command and operational duty," wrote the Chief of Staff in a letter distributed to IDF commanders.
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