Video: Documentation of the activities of the Shaldag unit in the Gaza Strip/IDF Spokesperson
Military Intelligence Director Aharon Haliva believes that following the events of October 7, his tenure in office is on borrowed time. "That morning I realized it was over," he told his associates, "after the war is over I'll have to go."
Now, it remains only to be seen when Haliva actually intends to retire. After Israel officially declares the end of the war, or perhaps before that, if the fire actually stops, and the army switches to a method of raiding only? Either way, Haliva is already considered a "lame duck" in the intelligence branch and the succession battle for his position has already begun.
On the night between Friday and Saturday, at around 02:30 A.M., IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy convened an encrypted telephone conversation on the IDF's "red line" with the head of the operations division, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk, and the commander of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, to discuss intelligence emerging from the various intelligence collection agencies in the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence.
At the same time, regular updates were provided on the accumulated intelligence on what was happening on the Gaza Strip border through various means. The assistant chief of staff, who conducted the conversation, updated Halevy, and only later did the other assistant generals, including the head of the research division, Maj. Gen. Amit Sa'ar, update Haliwa.
Aharon Haliwa/Reuven Castro
According to assessments, following the intelligence accumulated ahead of October 7 and the scenes of Hamas training near the border fence, the most serious scenario that could happen is the infiltration of Hamas terrorists to carry out a single attack on the Gaza border – but it was defined as unlikely. Military Intelligence assessed that most likely this was routine training by the terrorist organization's military wing, similar to the months preceding the attack.
Security sources familiar with the details of the reports stressed in a closed forum that it was not stated in any way that this was a strategic warning of war, not a raid in a large number of locations, and not an intention to infiltrate several communities simultaneously.
It is important to emphasize that after a conversation between Halevy, Haliva and Finkelman, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar also spoke with Halevy about the content of the intelligence, and at the end he decided to send the Tequila teams to the Gaza border in order to analyze the intelligence that emerged and thwart the possibility of a single infiltration attack.
The next time Haliva is updated on developments is at 06:29 a.m., when the largest barrage of rockets ever fired from the Gaza Strip is launched at Israel's home front.
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IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi/IDF Spokesperson
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip. November 26, 2023/IDF Spokesperson
The conduct of the IDF General Staff raises difficult questions: Who decided not to connect the head of Military Intelligence to the generals' conversation with Halevy, Finkelman and Basiuk? Was it Halevy who did not insist that he participate in the conversation? Or an instantaneous decision by the assistant chief of staff who organized the limited conversation? Even if it is claimed that this was a decision that was made quickly in the face of very limited intelligence and what is happening on the ground, it is expected that the chief of staff, or one of the generals, will wonder why they did not bring the head of Military Intelligence to the limited conversation, or at least to talk to him afterwards.
There is no doubt that had Haliva participated in the conversation, even when there was no information about a large-scale attack or declaration of war on Israel, he could have made a significant contribution and a very important weight to the decisions that followed. In retrospect, it turned out that there were signs of what was happening on the ground, but there was no one to connect them to an intelligence alert.
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- Gaza War
- Iron Sword War
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