Amit Saar, top IDF intelligence officer on Oct. 7, dies of cancer at 47

Brig. Gen. (res.) Amit Saar, who headed the Military Intelligence Research Department at the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, died overnight at age 47 after a battle with brain cancer.

Saar led the department from late 2020 and served as Israel’s top intelligence evaluator for over three years.

According to a Haaretz report in November 2023, Saar twice warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier that year that domestic tensions over his government’s controversial judicial overhaul plans were encouraging Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to potentially take military action against Israel. His analytical focus, however, reportedly remained largely on the northern front, and he did not foresee the scale of Hamas’s assault.

Saar stepped down in April 2024 to undergo treatment for a malignant tumor, having already indicated he would resign over the intelligence failures.

In a farewell letter to officers, he wrote, “We did not meet what was expected of us, what we expect of ourselves.”

At the time, the IDF described Saar as “an officer full of merit” who made significant contributions to Israel’s security, with then-chief of staff Herzi Halevi thanking him for his years of service.