Halevi Calls October 7 Preventable and Rejects Claims of Internal Betrayal

Former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on November 1 that the Hamas-led October 7 attack was preventable and rejected allegations that people inside Israel's security establishment had deliberately helped it happen. He spoke at Shurat HaDin's third annual Rage Against the Hate conference at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage. “October 7 was a failure that could have been prevented,” Halevi said. He urged political leaders to publicly reject claims of internal betrayal. He argued that such a conspiracy would have required a broad network of participants, yet no participant had been found. Halevi backed a state commission of inquiry and said Israel must complete its investigation and confront its failures. Describing the assessments before the attack, Halevi said the IDF, the Shin Bet and the political leadership had wrongly believed Hamas preferred consolidating its rule in Gaza to starting a war. He said Hamas had deliberately reinforced that assessment, while Iran and Hezbollah received higher strategic priority. Halevi also said strong military pressure on the ground had helped bring hostages home. He acknowledged that Israeli bombs had unintentionally killed hostages whose locations were unknown to the military, and described subsequent efforts to improve intelligence on where hostages were held.