Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who has commanded the Israeli military throughout 15 months of war in Gaza, said he was resigning over its failure to protect against the 2023 assault.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, announced on Tuesday that he would resign in early March, citing in part the military’s failure under his command to protect Israelis from the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
The heavy toll of the attacks — 1,200 killed in Israel and 250 others taken hostage to Gaza — had long come with an expectation in Israel that at least some of the country’s leaders would ultimately resign. Only a few officials have done so, and General Halevi is the highest-ranking military leader to step down so far.
“My responsibility for the terrible failure accompanies me every day, every hour and will for the rest of my life,” he said in a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, announcing his resignation.
Mr. Netanyahu has rebuffed calls to resign or take full-throated responsibility for the disastrous failure to predict and prevent Hamas’s attack. He has said he will have to answer “difficult questions” after the war.
General Halevi announced he would resign just two days after Israel and Hamas began a 42-day truce, the first phase of a cease-fire and hostage release deal. On Sunday, Hamas released three female hostages held in Gaza since the 2023 attacks in exchange for 90 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, jailed in Israel.
Citing the agreement with Hamas, General Halevi said the timing was “now ripe” for him to leave, since hostages had begun to come home. He also said that the Israeli military had scored a number of major achievements, allowing him to bow out with Israel’s “deterrence and might” restored.