Zamir links October 7 and Yom Kippur War failures, warns IDF must always be ready

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir links the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught to those of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, warning during the first exercise of the military’s new 38th Division that the IDF must always be prepared for a surprise attack.

“This week, we mark 53 years since the Yom Kippur War and three years since October 7 – two painful debacles, two failures, linked by a common thread,” Zamir says. “The lesson we must all learn from both wars is that the possibility of a surprise attack must concern us all.”

Zamir says the IDF is continuing to examine the roots of the failures surrounding October 7 and pursuing a “learning process.”

“A commander who does not question his assumptions and instead entrenches himself in them will be defeated,” he adds. “Reality is sending us signals all the time, and it is our duty to recognize them, heed them and constantly adapt.”

“At the same time, we must not become consumed by the failure,” he says. “We must look it in the eyes, learn from it and move forward.”

The 38th Division, formed earlier this year, is composed of the Ground Forces’ training units, intended to be activated in times of war as a combat formation.

Zamir says the division will now become operational and, over the coming year, “establish itself as a flexible General Staff reserve division capable of operating in any theater.”

Its establishment comes as the IDF reverses a two-decade trend of reducing the size of the military, he says, citing its growing range of operations in recent years.