In the years prior to the devastating Hamas attack, Israeli governments, mostly led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had adopted and maintained a policy of transferring Qatari money to Gaza, out of the belief that the financial incentive would buy it quiet on the southern border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IDF has taken responsibility and investigated itself, but the incident is not [the army\u2019s] alone, and it would not be appropriate to direct all the attention solely toward it,\u201d Zamir wrote<\/p>\n
\u201cTo reach the truth and full national-level conclusions, an external and objective commission of inquiry must be established, as was done after the [1973] Yom Kippur War,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The chief of staff added: \u201cAmong other things, the interface between the political echelon and the military echelon, and the political and security conceptions that preceded the war, must be investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Zamir said October 7 was the result of \u201csystemic and long-standing failures.\u201d He criticized the doctrine of \u201cdefensive containment\u201d that developed in the years before the attack, based on the notion that \u201cbuying off Hamas with money\u201d would allow Israel to focus on other threats. \u201cThis doctrine of \u2018avoidance\u2019 enabled Hamas to carry out a broad military build-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Zamir notably avoided explicitly calling for a state commission of inquiry, which the government opposes despite surveys showing a majority of the public supports it.<\/p>\n The army\u2019s investigative team, led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, a former head of the Southern Command, noted that during 2023, senior military officials warned political officials, including Netanyahu, that Israel\u2019s enemies were perceiving \u201cinternal weakness\u201d in Israeli society over the government\u2019s planned judicial overhaul. While the IDF\u2019s probes have determined this was not the reason for Hamas launching its attack \u2014 which it had planned to launch years prior \u2014 the military did not adjust its level of alert or deployments in light of the warnings.<\/p>\n Zamir, in his summary, wrote that \u201cduring 2023, several warnings were sent to the military and political leadership. The warnings were general and dealt with identifying the development of a perception among our enemies that the State of Israel was undergoing a process of internal weakening, which harmed its deterrence and increased the likelihood of escalation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is necessary to examine the interface between the political and military leadership regarding the warning, and at the same time to examine why the military echelon, which sent the warning, did not prepare the forces and alert levels accordingly,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \t Zamir, in his summary, said that all of the IDF\u2019s operations carried out in the Gaza Strip from 2008 and 2021, especially Operation Protective Edge in 2014, \u201chelped entrench the conception\u201d that Hamas had no intention to invade Israel. Zamir himself also served as chief of the Southern Command from 2015 to 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cRelevant operational plans were not built, plans whose purpose was to decisively defeat Hamas were not advanced, and were even abandoned,\u201d Zamir wrote, referring to operational plans in the Southern Command to defeat Hamas that were nixed after the end of his tenure in 2018.<\/p>\n Turgeman\u2019s team noted that the intelligence received by the military on the eve of October 7, hours before the onslaught, \u201ccould and should have led\u201d to actions being taken by the army, which may have changed the outcome of the attack.<\/p>\n Zamir similarly concluded that it could have been possible to change the outcome of the onslaught, saying that \u201cthe situation assessments and decision-making processes were conducted unprofessionally. The information that existed required raising the alert level, at the very least.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (foreground) visits IDF troops in southern Syria, accompanied by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right), November 19, 2025. (Kobi Gideon\/GPO)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC03684-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIDF troops are seen in southern Gaza\u2019s Rafah, November 23, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n
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