NY Times investigates army’s failures in responding to Oct. 7 attack

Reporting on the Israeli military’s failures on October 7, The New York Times says, based on interviews with current and former officials, that the IDF has no plan to handle a massive Hamas assault on the country as was seen on that day.

“There was no defense plan for a surprise attack,” Amir Avivi, a former deputy head of the Gaza Division, tells the paper.

“The army does not prepare itself for things it thinks are impossible,” adds former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror.

The report paints a picture of a military that for long hours failed to understand the scale of the attack, responding slowly and inefficiently, sending too small teams that were ill equipped to deal with a mass assault.

It also highlights Hamas’s attack on the IDF’s Gaza Division base at Re’im as key to the assault’s success, crippling the unit responsible for coordinating all military activity in the region.

Lacking clear directives or orders, many units resorted to using apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram to glean information on targets and people in need of assistance.

Israel is expected to launch a major investigation into the failures that enabled Oct. 7 when the war in Gaza concludes.