From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Top IDF intelligence officer quits over illness
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A senior Israeli intelligence officer has resigned from the military after he was diagnosed with cancer in recent days.
The head of the Military Intelligence Research Department, Brig. Gen. Amit Saar, was already expected to quit over the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
In a missive to troops, Saar says that “in the last few months we have all experienced, and I especially, a deep shock. We did not live up to what was expected of us, what we expected of ourselves.”
“Even before we clarified the first detail, I made it clear that in the world of values in which I live, I intend to take responsibility,” he writes.
Due to the sudden decision, with Saar requiring immediate treatment, a former chief of the research department, Brig. Gen. (res.) Itai Brun — who led the unit between 2011 and 2015 and has been in reserves since October 7 — will fill his place.
The IDF says Saar is “an officer full of merit, who contributed a lot to the security of the State of Israel, even amid the war.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi thanks Saar for “his many years of work in the IDF, and his work throughout his life for the security of the citizens of the State of Israel.”
