At handover, COGAT chief says he feels ‘profound pain and deep embarrassment’ over Oct. 7

Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, who is completing his nearly five-year tenure as chief of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — the Defense Ministry’s liaison body to the Palestinians — says he feels “profound pain and deep embarrassment” over the failures that enabled Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy, a retired senior police officer, is replacing Alian. It is unprecedented for a former senior police officer to be given a top role in the IDF.

Speaking at a handover ceremony, Alian says that “alongside the sense of pride in the path and in what I had the privilege to lead, contribute to, and act upon, I feel profound pain and deep embarrassment as an officer and as a commander over the systemic failure of October 7.”

“As an army, we did not meet our most basic obligation to ensure the protection of the residents of the border communities and the state as a whole,” he says. He is the latest in a string of military, intelligence and defense officials to take responsibility and apologize for his role surrounding the October 7 attack.

Alian is set to be appointed to a new role in the military as a liaison to the Druze population in Syria and Lebanon under the IDF Northern Command.

“Today, I conclude my role, but I commit to continue acting, for as long as I am able, for the security of the people of Israel and the State of Israel,” he says.

Halevy, speaking at the ceremony, says, “The State of Israel is currently facing major challenges, alongside significant opportunities. Reality is changing rapidly, and new mechanisms are taking shape every day. Within this changing environment, the missions, challenges, and areas of responsibility of COGAT continue to grow.”

“In recent months, I have studied the unit, its missions, its people, and its strengths. Above all, I have learned that COGAT has a real capability to help realize the potential inherent in this period, and that a heavy responsibility rests on its shoulders to ensure that this happens,” he adds.

Halevy held the rank of deputy commissioner in the Israel Police before retiring. He previously headed the force’s Jerusalem and Southern Districts, the Border Police, the Lahav 433 major crimes unit, and the elite Yamam counterterrorism unit, and served in other top roles.

His son, Chief Inspector Yitav Lev Halevy, 28, a commander in Yamam, was killed in a battle with Palestinian gunmen during a raid in the West Bank in May 2024.

COGAT is a Defense Ministry unit commanded by an IDF general that oversees and coordinates humanitarian and civilian matters in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and, more recently, also in areas of southern Syria under Israeli military control.