Head of elite military intelligence unit resigns

In a letter, Brigadier General Yossi Sariel asks for “forgiveness for not having fulfilled the mission that [lui] was awarded” on October 7.

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Israeli army and Israeli intelligence facilities on April 20, 2017. (MUHAMMED ALI AKMAN / ANADOLU AGENCY / AFP)

The head of an elite Israeli military intelligence unit announced his resignation on Thursday, September 12. “The commander of Unit 8200, Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, informed his superiors of his intention to resign”the army wrote in a statement.

Blamed for the October 7 failure, the Israeli army’s intelligence service (Aman) experienced an unprecedented crisis and its commander, General Aaron Haliva, was the first senior officer in the Israeli army to resign, in April 2024. The army had then announced that General Haliva had asked to be relieved of his duties, citing his “responsibility” for his department’s failure to prevent the October 7 attack.

In a copy of General Sariel’s letter released by Israeli media on Thursday, the officer asks “sorry for not having fulfilled the mission which [lui] was allocated” October 7. In June, Kan public television revealed the existence of a report from Unit 8200 dated September 19, 2023, that detailed training by elite units of the Palestinian Islamist movement for raids on military positions and kibbutzim in southern Israel, less than three weeks before Hamas launched its bloody attack.


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