IDF Chief Zamir Dismisses Senior Commanders Over October 7 Failures

The IDF dismissed and censured a broad group of senior commanders yesterday, as Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced personal measures against officers he said carried direct command responsibility for the failures of October 7. The decisions were delivered during a day of intense meetings at IDF headquarters, following the conclusions of an external panel of experts that reviewed the military’s own investigations.

“The IDF failed in its primary mission on October 7 — to defend the citizens of the State of Israel,” Zamir said. “This is a severe, resonant, systemic failure,” he declared, adding that the events of that day must serve as a “compass for the future.”

The disciplinary steps span the ranks of major general to lieutenant colonel. Former Intelligence Directorate chief Aharon Haliva, who resigned in 2024, will be dismissed from reserve duty and will no longer serve in the IDF. Former Operations Directorate chief Oded Basiuk, and former Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman, who resigned earlier this year, will also be removed from reserve service.

Current Intelligence Directorate chief Shlomi Binder, who on October 7 served as head of the Operations Division, was censured but will continue in his role until the end of his term in 2028, after which he will resign from the military at his request.

Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar was censured for the Air Force’s failure to intercept Hamas’s drones and para-gliders but will finish his tenure in April 2026. Navy chief David Sa’ar Salama was censured for the Navy’s failure to repel Hamas’s sea-borne assault and will remain in his post until his planned departure in the coming months.

Other commanders dismissed from reserve service or ousted from the IDF include Brig. Gen. “Gimmel,” who headed the Military Intelligence Operational Operations Division on October 7, former Unit 8200 commander Yossi Sariel, former Gaza Division commander Avi Rosenfeld, former Southern Command intelligence chief Col. Ariel Lubovski, Col. Haim Cohen, who commanded the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, and Lt. Col. “Alef,” the division’s intelligence officer.

Zamir said he approached the decisions with deep difficulty. “It is not easy to make decisions affecting people I respect, who devoted their lives to the security of the state, people I fought alongside for decades,” he said. But he emphasized that accountability could not be optional. “Before my eyes stands the obligation to clearly mark a line of command responsibility. This is not responsibility we choose to take upon ourselves, but responsibility we bear by virtue of being commanders in the IDF. If we do not sharpen the meaning of responsibility, trust in the system will erode.”

He added that the IDF must hold itself to a higher internal standard than any imposed from the outside. “We must ensure that the events of October 7 never return. The public’s trust is the foundation of our ability to fight, to win, and to defend the State of Israel,” he said.

Even as he announced the dismissals, Zamir urged Israelis to recognize the lifetime of service carried by the officers now facing consequences. “All those whose names will now be linked to these personal conclusions are among our finest commanders. We have a responsibility to them as a society. We must not be a country that devours its commanders — we do not have that privilege.”

The chief of staff concluded by promising that internal investigations would continue until every failure is understood. “I will continue to lead the IDF in the light of truth, with responsibility and devotion to the mission,” he said.