Israel Officially Ends Service of Intelligence Officer Over Failure in 'October 7' Events

The Israeli army has officially ended the service of a major officer who held the position of intelligence officer for the Gaza Brigade during the October 7 attack, after the head of the human resources branch decided to terminate his military obligation, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The army informed the officer, whose name remains unpublished, of the termination of his service, stating he may appeal the decision to the Israeli Chief of Staff.

The officer had previously filed a request to halt the implementation of the termination order, after an administrative court recently allowed the publication of his identity—though the court later blocked the release of his name due to his service in the military intelligence system. He also challenged the procedures for ending his service, but the court ruled in June that the process could continue.

The court concluded that the termination procedures were "carried out in accordance with the law and with full authority," noting that military orders permit authorities to end a soldier’s military commitment in cases of professional or leadership failure.

The army stated that the procedures over recent months included reviewing all relevant considerations in his case, including the opinion of the Deputy Chief of Staff, results of military investigations, professional assessments on shortcomings in his performance leading up to the October 7 events, and a review of his claims regarding the extent of his responsibility.

Earlier, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had determined that several senior commanders bore leadership responsibility for the October 7 events, and that there was justification for taking leadership action against them, following the findings of the Turkel Commission.

The summonses at the time included the head of military intelligence Shlomi Ben-Dor, Air Force commander Tomer Bar, Navy commander David Sarid, operations chief during the attack Oded Basiuk, head of military intelligence at the time Aharon Halifa, Gaza Brigade commander on October 7 Avi Rosenfeld, former commander of Unit 8200 Yossi Shrieel, along with several senior intelligence branch officials and unit commanders, and Colonel Yaron Finkelman, who was the Southern Command commander during the attack.