Israeli ministers and military leaders were killed, dismissed, or resigned from their positions as a result of the sharp criticism directed at the performance of the government and the Israeli security establishment following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance led by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Gaza envelope settlements at dawn on the 7th. October 2023.
Benny Gantz
Benjamin “Benny” Gantz is an Israeli politician and military commander, born in 1959. He joined the Israeli army in 1977, then rose through the military ranks until he assumed the Ministry of Defense in two government coalitions.
He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Alternative Prime Minister in the National Emergency Government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April 2020.
In October 2023, he joined the Israeli War Council that emerged from the emergency government that was formed to manage the war on the Gaza Strip, following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation.
In April 2024, he called for new elections, but his call was rejected, and in May 2024, he threatened to resign from the government if it did not adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza, by June 8 of the same year.
On the evening of June 9, 2024, he announced his resignation from his position in the War Council, calling for holding “elections that will bring about a true national Zionist unity government.”
He also addressed the families of the hostages, saying, “We failed the exam, and we were not able to return your children.”
Gadi Eisenkot
Gadi Eisenkot is an Israeli soldier and politician. He was born in 1960 to Moroccan Jewish parents in Tiberias, northern occupied Palestine. He began his military experience by joining the Golani Brigade in 1978 when he was 18 years old. He then rose through the ranks until he became a major general, assuming the position of Chief of the General Staff and retiring. 2019.
He was described as the godfather of the “suburb strategy”, which is based on the destruction of infrastructure, considering that the residents of cities in which there are military resistance forces are also warriors for Israel, which calls for collective punishment.
He entered the corridors of politics in 2022 and was elected as a member of the Knesset, then he was chosen as a member of the mini-security government that was formed after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in October 2023. In December 2023, his eldest son was killed at the entrance to a resistance tunnel in the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip.
Rivka Gantz resigned from the emergency government on the evening of June 9, 2024.
Major General Aharon Haliva
Aharon Haliva, a major general in the Israeli army with a secular orientation, was born in 1967 in the city of Haifa. He joined the Israeli army in 1985 and served as a non-commissioned officer in the 202nd Paratroopers Battalion.
Starting in 1988, he became an officer in the infantry force, then rose through the ranks until he became head of the Military Intelligence Division “Aman” in 2021.
He announced his resignation on April 22, 2024 due to his failure to predict the attack on October 7, 2023.
His resignation was expected, as he stated 10 days after the attack that he bore full responsibility for the intelligence failure.
He said in his resignation letter that the Intelligence Division under his command had fallen short of its mission, adding that he would “carry with him forever the terrible pain of war.”
Ronin Bar
Ronen Bar, an Israeli soldier and politician, was born in the mid-1960s and began his military service in 1983 as a fighter in the special unit of the Army Chief of Staff.
He joined the Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) in 1993, and rose to hold various positions until he became deputy head of the agency in 2018, and on October 11, 2021, the government approved his appointment as its head.
Following the events of October 7, 2023, it was announced that the Shin Bet “failed to issue the necessary warning” of the attack, while former Shin Bet head Yaakov Peri said that Ronen Bar would step down from his position following the end of the war.
Tamir Yadai
An Israeli officer, whose exact date of birth is not known, began his service in the Israeli Defense Forces in 1988 as a fighter in the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade, and then rose to occupy various positions and become one of the most prominent field commanders.
He commanded several major combat units, including the 13th Battalion and the Egoz Intelligence Unit. He also assumed command of the Golani Brigade and the “Judea and Samaria” Division (West Bank), then assumed command of the ground forces in the Israeli army on October 12, 2021.
On September 3, 2024, he announced his resignation from his position for “personal reasons,” according to the Israeli media, while military analyzes described his resignation as an “earthquake” in the General Staff’s leadership, and said that it caused a “headache” for its chief, Herzi Halevy.
Military analysts also ruled out the fact that the resignation was for “personal reasons,” stressing that it comes in the context of the resignations of senior officers in the army and the struggle over appointments to leadership positions headed by the Chief of Staff.
Avi Rosenfeld
One of the most prominent commanders of the Israeli Defense Forces, he served in several units of the Israeli army, and assumed the position of commander of the Gaza Division in 2022. On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian resistance attacked his headquarters during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which forced the Israeli army to deny rumors that spoke of his capture. While he was – according to Israeli sources – in the war room of the military base trying to organize the defense.
The sources also revealed that he received intelligence information about activity in Gaza before the attack occurred.
On June 9, 2024, he announced his resignation from his position due to his “failure in the mission to protect the Gaza envelope area,” adding that “everyone must bear responsibility for what happened on October 7.”
Gideon Saar
A far-right politician, born in Tel Aviv on December 9, 1966, to a father of Argentine origins and a mother whose origins go back to Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
He joined military service in the occupation army in 1984 as an officer and fighter in the Golani Brigade, and an officer in military intelligence.
He emerged on the political scene during the period of Netanyahu’s first government between 1996 and 1999, and between March 2001 and November 2002. He held the position of government secretary for a short period, and was later elected in 2003 for the first time as a member of the Knesset for the Likud Party, which was led at the time by Ariel. Sharon.
In 2014, he retired from political life due to his disagreements with Netanyahu. Then he returned in April 2019, rebelled against him and competed with him for the party’s leadership to no avail. In December 2020, he withdrew from Likud and founded the “Tikva Hadasha” (New Hope) party.
He joined the emergency government that was formed to manage the war on Gaza following the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, and on March 25, 2024, he announced during a press conference his resignation from the government, after the expiry of a deadline given to Netanyahu to include him in the war council.
Sa’ar said, “In recent months, I and the citizens of Israel have seen how the course of the battle does not bring us any closer to achieving its goals.”
Notable dead officers
Israel revealed the names and ranks of some of its army officers who were killed during the aggression against the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, the most prominent of whom were:
- Colonel Assaf Hamami (41 years old), commander of the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division, was killed in the attack on October 7, and his body is being held in Gaza.
- Colonel Yonatan Steinberg (42 years old), commander of the Nahal Brigade, was killed in an exchange of fire near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
- Colonel Leon Bar, a senior officer in the West Bank Division of the occupation army.
- Colonel Roi Youssef Levy (44 years old), commander of the multidimensional unit.
- Lieutenant Colonel Sahar Zion Makhlouf (33 years old), from the Gaza Division, commander of a communications battalion.
- Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Tzur (33 years old), battalion commander in the Golani Brigade.
- Lieutenant Colonel Elie Ginsburg (42 years old), an officer in the elite naval commando unit “Shayetet-13”, served in his last position as commander of the “Counter-Terrorism” school.
- Lieutenant Colonel Alim Abdullah (40 years old), deputy commander of the 300th Brigade, was killed in a confrontation on the border with Lebanon.
- Lieutenant Colonel Maidan Yisrael (35 years old), Command Supply Commander in the Southern Command.
- Lieutenant Colonel Salman Habqa (33 years old), commander of the 53rd Battalion, was killed in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
