Wave of high-ranking resignations rocks Israeli army amid Gaza war

A wave of high-profile military and security resignations has shaken the Israeli army since Oct. 7, with several senior officers stepping down, citing intelligence failure to predict the raid and personal reasons.

Here is a list of seven prominent resignations from Israel's army ranks over the last 11 months.

The head of the Military Intelligence Directorate's Research Division, Brigadier General Amit Saar, quits "due to personal reasons, unrelated to the failure of the unit to sound the alarm about the Oct. 7 attack, but over illness," according to Israeli media.

The head of the Israeli army's Military Intelligence Directorate, Major General Aharon Haliva, resigns over his failure to predict the Oct. 7 raid on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Spate of resignations

The commander of the Israeli army’s Gaza Division, Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, announces his resignation due to his failure to protect Israeli military bases and settlements during the Hamas raid on Oct. 7.

The head of the Shin Bet security agency’s Southern District steps down, citing his department’s failure to avert Hamas’s Oct. 7 raid.

An intelligence officer in the Gaza division informs his commanders that he intends to resign due to the intelligence failure on Oct. 7.

The commander of Unit 8200, the Israeli army’s largest collection unit, Brigadier General Yossi Shariel, intends to announce his resignation in the coming weeks in response to criticism leveled at him regarding the intelligence failures on Oct. 7.

Chief of the Israeli army’s Ground Forces, Tamir Yadai, resigned on Tuesday for "personal reasons" after he served three years in his position. According to Israel’s Army Radio, he is expected to submit his candidacy for "significant positions" within the army.

On June 6, Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and War Cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot stepped down from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency unity government.

Gantz and Eisenkot, both members of the National Unity party, joined Netanyahu’s government following the Israel's assault on Gaza erupted, leading to the formation of the emergency government, which then established the War Cabinet.

These resignations come as Israel continued its devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,800 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 94,200 others since a Hamas surprise raid on Oct. 7 last year.

The Israeli army is also engaged in daily exchanges of cross-border attacks with the Lebanese group Hezbollah.