After IDF chief resigns, opposition MKs suggest Netanyahu should be next

Coalition, opposition welcome Halevi’s departure, thank him for taking responsibility for Oct. 7 failures; Smotrich, Ben Gvir hope replacement will lead country to ‘total victory’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a cadets graduation ceremony at the IDF's officers school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1, March 7, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a cadets graduation ceremony at the IDF's officers school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1, March 7, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

The pending resignation of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, which he announced Tuesday, was welcomed by Israeli leaders and lawmakers, many of whom have long said he should step down over his role in the failures that led up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Others also used the opportunity to call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government to follow Halevi’s lead and resign for the same reasons.

Halevi, in a letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz, said he would leave the Israel Defense Forces on March 6. His announcement was followed shortly after by a similar statement by IDF Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, although he did not specify a date.

Katz, who spoke with Halevi before the letter was published, said he thanked the chief of staff “for his contribution to the IDF throughout his years of service as a fighter and as a commander, and for his part in the great achievements of the IDF in the difficult war that was imposed on us.”

Netanyahu also spoke to Halevi following his announcement, and ‘thanked the IDF chief of staff for his many years of service and his command of the IDF” during the past 15 months of war, “which led to great achievements for the State of Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. The two are slated to meet in the coming days.

President Isaac Herzog said that Halevi had “dedicated his life to the security of the State of Israel and its citizens” and praised him for his leadership over the last 15 months of fighting in Gaza and multiple other fronts.

President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi attend the state ceremony marking 10 years since Operation Protective Edge at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, July 16, 2024. (Shalev Shalom/POOL)

In the wake of the Hamas onslaught, Halevi “made it clear that he takes responsibility,” Herzog said. “Even today, when he announced his resignation due to his part in the serious failure of October 7, he deserves respect and gratitude for his performance and contribution to leading the campaign and its many significant successes.”

He reiterated his desire for the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and the events leading up to it, saying that doing so would allow Israel to “draw lessons, take responsibility, draw conclusions, and build trust between citizens and their state.”

Herzog’s sentiments were echoed by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including National Unity Minister Benny Gantz, who said that Halevi was “first and foremost a warrior,” who “fought for the country his entire adult life.”

“The chief of staff is responsible for the [military failures of] the October 7 disaster, and is also responsible for the IDF’s tremendous recovery,” Gantz wrote on X. “He took responsibility from the first moment, exercised it on the battlefield and is now also exercising his public responsibility in a manner worthy of appreciation.”

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a minister within the Defense Ministry, praised the outgoing IDF chief for his decades of service, including his “great military achievements on all fronts” over the last 15 months.

Criticizing Halevi’s “failure in the campaign to eliminate Hamas’s civilian and governmental capabilities, as well as his responsibility for the October 7 failure,” Smotrich acknowledged that it nevertheless did not “diminish the large debt of gratitude we owe him for all his work and contributions over the years, and for his achievements.”

The Religious Zionism leader said that the upcoming period “will be marked by the replacement of the senior military command as part of preparations for the renewal of the war, this time in the name of not ending the war until total victory.

“I am confident that the defense minister will succeed in the task with responsibility, professionalism and determination, and I will assist him in this as necessary,” he added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) during a visit to Northern Command with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (2R) on November 13, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir similarly welcomed Halevi’s departure and expressed hope that a more aggressive officer would be appointed in his place.

The ultranationalist lawmaker, who resigned from the coalition and from his role as national security minister earlier this week in protest of the ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, reiterated his earlier claim that Netanyahu had offered to fire Halevi and give him credit for the move in exchange for Otzma Yehudit’s continued presence in the coalition.

Ben Gvir asserted in an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday night that he had rejected the supposed offer, although the Prime Minister’s Office denied his claim altogether.

“As I said, the chief of staff’s resignation was expected regardless of the course of the war, and therefore I rejected the offer of getting credit for a move he himself initiated in exchange for backing the surrender deal with Hamas,” Ben Gvir said in a video statement on Tuesday.

“In any case, the departure of the chief of staff should be welcomed,” he added.

The heads of the Knesset opposition parties, meanwhile, suggested that Netanyahu should follow Halevi’s lead and resign for his part in the failures surrounding October 7.

Most members of the government, including Netanyahu, have repeatedly refused to take responsibility for their part in the series of strategic and operational failures that led to the Hamas onslaught, insisting that the matter of their responsibility only be dealt with after the war.

“Now let the prime minister and his entire disastrous government take responsibility and resign,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid wrote on X, while Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman called for the premier and his cabinet “to take responsibility and follow him home.”

“Thank you, Herzi. Netanyahu, now it’s your turn,” said Democrats chairman Yair Golan.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) speaks to officers in southern Gaza’s Rafah alongside Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman (left) and Gaza Division chief Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram (right), December 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Halevi, along with Southern Command chief Finkelman, joins the former chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, and former commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, who also resigned over the October 7 onslaught.

Other top defense officials have said they bear responsibility for the deadly invasion, including the head of the Shin Bet security agency, although he has not yet resigned.

Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, carrying out a murderous rampage of unprecedented brutality and breadth. The IDF struggled to mount a response, with bases closest to the border overrun and the chain of command seemingly broken amid the chaos.

The onslaught claimed the lives of some 1,200 people in Israel, with another 251 people kidnapped and much of the area devastated. Most of the victims were civilians.

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