Israeli army commander of intelligence unit resigns over 'failure' of Oct. 7

Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, commander of the Israeli army's elite intelligence Unit 8200, announced on Thursday that he is resigning from his position due to what he referred to as his "personal responsibility" for the failure of his unit on October 7.

In the letter he sent to the members of the unit, he wrote that "on October 7 at 6:29 A.M., I did not perform the task as I expected of myself, as expected of me by my subordinates and commanders, and as expected of me by the citizens of the country that I love so much."

"Today, due to the state of the war, to the processes of rebuilding the unit's resilience and after completion of the initial investigation processes, I request to exercise my personal responsibility as the commander of the unit on October 7 to transfer the baton of command to the next commander," he wrote.

Five months ago, AMAN head Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, who served in the military for almost four decades, asked IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi to relieve him of his duties following the conclusion of an internal probe and after an “orderly learning and transition process.” Haliva stepped down and retired from active service on Aug. 21.

Sariel last year reportedly refused to take any blame for the failures, saying his team provided all the necessary intelligence. In May, his unit promoted two of its officers, drawing criticism from within the army.