Amid political uproar, IDF says probe of army’s failures is crucial for future fighting

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari insisted Friday that an “operational investigation” into the military’s failures on October 7 was essential to its fighting in the Gaza Strip, as well as preparing itself for other fronts. He stressed that the probe was not a substitute for any external investigations.

The comments came against the backdrop of a security cabinet meeting Thursday night that ended in a loud and angry dustup between ministers and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi as right-wing lawmakers denounced his plans for the army to probe its mistakes surrounding the October 7 Hamas invasion.

The row continued through to Friday, with war cabinet minister Benny Gantz warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to choose between unity or playing politics, and the ruling Likud party hitting back at Gantz, defending the conduct of the right-wing ministers.

“Our goal is to always improve, to draw conclusions from the fighting, to deepen the achievement and minimize casualties to our forces,” Hagari said in an evening press conference.

“The operational investigation is one of the basic principles of the IDF. Only a thorough investigation of the truth will allow us to learn from the failures and prepare for the security challenges in the future — 2024 will be a year of fighting, and there are lessons to be learned that will help us fight better, in all the arenas,” he said.

He stated that the IDF is busy fighting and has not yet begun its investigation into the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

“The General Staff is formulating these days the process of planning the investigations, and picking those leading the operational investigation,” Hagari said.

He said some investigations are intended to be internal, and others will include former defense officials looking into the chain of command from an outside perspective.

The results of the probes will be presented to the public once completed, he said.

“IDF investigations are intended to improve the army and they do not replace any external investigation,” Hagari added.

Hagari’s statement came after the IDF chief’s decision to form the investigation sparked further political tensions within the emergency coalition.

The panel is set to probe the military’s failures ahead of October 7 when some 3,000 Hamas terrorists swept across the border, overrunning military bases and communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking another 240 hostages.

The probe is meant to help the IDF identify shortcomings as it gears up for further fighting, including a possible expanded conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and is not meant to touch on political failures in the runup to October 7.

Reports in Hebrew media outlets, which quoted unnamed participants of Thursday night’s stormy cabinet session, said Netanyahu cut off the meeting after three hours with shouting erupting as some ministers came to Halevi’s defense; he was not reported to have intervened to stop the assailing of the chief of staff. One minister told the Kan broadcaster that they understood the uproar “could be heard outside the room.” Another said some defense officials left early, in apparent protest of their treatment.

Hagari declined to discuss the events of the cabinet meeting, saying that deliberations were private.

The security cabinet meeting was intended to discuss planning for the administration of Gaza following the war with the Hamas terror group. Kan reported Friday evening that while National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi presented the plans, the meeting ended in a loud and angry dispute between ministers and the military brass.

Unnamed ministers told Kan that the emergency coalition wouldn’t last very long in its current state and that Netanyahu and his allies were trying to put blame on the top security brass for October 7.

According to the ministers, Netanyahu announced the meeting was about to end when the shouting match began.

“The attack on the chief of staff was planned by Netanyahu and Likud ministers. The prime minister did not open his mouth when they shouted at the chief of staff, and only announced in the end that the meeting was over and there would be a follow-up,” one of the ministers said.

Unnamed IDF officials told Channel 12 news: “We are fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, and there are those in the cabinet that are fighting us.”

Asserting that Netanyahu was culpable for the ugly scenes, Gantz said in a video statement Friday that it was now up to the premier to correct the mistake.

He conceded that ministers are supposed to ask questions and challenge the information provided to them by security chiefs at cabinet meetings, but “what happened yesterday was a politically motivated attack in the middle of a war.”

“I have participated in many cabinet meetings. Such conduct has never occurred and must not occur,” he said and defended Halevi’s measure.

Gantz, the National Unity chairman — who agreed to join the government on an interim basis days after the war’s outbreak — also appeared to take a swipe at Netanyahu, who has refused to admit any real culpability for the failures that enabled the assault.

“It is good that the chief of staff, who knew how to take responsibility after the October 7 disaster, is taking responsibility and establishing a team that will produce operational lessons for the continuation of the fighting. This is his duty,” Gantz said.

He added that a state commission would deal with failures on “all levels” but should focus on the political role, and not military matters.

Hardline lawmakers fumed over Halevi’s reported decision to have former chief of staff and defense minister Shaul Mofaz sit on the panel probing the IDF’s pre-October 7 failures due to his involvement in the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.

But some of the criticism appeared motivated by fears that an IDF probe into its responsibility for October 7 would also look into the government’s role, or at the very least would lead to pressure for lawmakers to conduct the same type of investigation.

Netanyahu has insisted that such a probe can only take place after the war is over, as critics claim he is buying time in order to remain in office.

His Likud party later Friday hit back at Gantz and defended the conduct of the right-wing ministers.

“The duty of the political and security cabinet is to ask questions and receive answers. This is not politics,” the Likud statement said.

“In wartime when the public is united, Gantz is expected to act responsibly and stop looking for excuses to break his promise to remain in the unity government until the end of the war,” the Likud statement adds.

Gantz’s call for Netanyahu to choose between security and politics did indeed renew speculation that the National Unity chairman is considering leaving the government.

Contrary to the Likud statement, though, Gantz did not pledge to stick around until the end of the war, instead leaving his commitment vague.

“Just as I knew when to enter it, I’ll know when to leave,” he has said when asked.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant broke with his party, issuing a statement late Friday in which he gave his backing to Halevi, while far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir waded into the dispute after Gantz’s statement, accusing him of trying to silence debate. Ben Gvir also accused Gantz of pushing to let the Palestinian Authority take over Gaza after the war.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has refused to join the unity government as long as the far-right parties remained, also attacked their behavior in the cabinet meeting, calling it “a descent to unprecedented depths.”

“In the midst of a war, ministers attack the chief of staff and the prime minister does nothing to oppose it,” he said, also slamming Ben Gvir, “a terror supporter who never served in the military,” for attacking Mofaz.