In speech in front of PM, Zamir says IDF is ‘bravely examining’ October 7 failures

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military is learning from its investigations into its failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, and will not “sink” into it.

“Out of the great fracture, the [Air Force] and the IDF as a whole are conducting investigations, bravely examining ourselves,” Zamir says at a pilots’ graduation ceremony, which is also attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“Systemic lessons learned and their implementation on the ground are a fundamental, existential matter, and we have no other choice,” he says.

Zamir says the IDF “will learn from the failure, but we will not sink into it. We are moving in one direction, forward.”

As Zamir speaks, lawmakers vote to advance a controversial bill to establish a politically appointed probe into the October 7 failures, in place of a state commission of inquiry.

Despite polls consistently showing a substantial majority of Israelis want a state commission of inquiry to be established, Netanyahu and his coalition have rejected attempts to establish one.