Former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi is the senior official to whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was referring when he said at a press conference he held on Wednesday that there were those who estimated in the first days of the war that it would be impossible to save any of the hostages.
At the press conference, Netanyahu said: "At the beginning of the war, there was someone who said that we might not be able to return even a single abductee. That's what he said, a very senior person. I thought differently and acted differently, and this path has proven itself."
Halevi said these things at meetings of the IDF's senior command, at the beginning of the war - when Israel still did not know the exact number of abductees.
According to a report by Ariel Kahane in Israel Hayom, Halevi's words were spoken during the first 24 to 48 hours of the war.
The former Chief of Staff, and like him many senior figures in the security establishment, feared, in light of the chaos of the kidnapping of the Israelis, that Gaza residents would lynch the kidnapped. This was because neither Israel nor Hamas still knew the exact number of abductees.
After a few days, when it was assessed that Hamas had gained control and was sending messages to the field to protect the hostages and treat them as an 'asset', the security assessment changed.
Only at this stage did intelligence accumulate that indicated Hamas' ability to control the fate of people and use them as a bargaining chip.
Those close to the former Chief of Staff note that a few days later, and especially after the start of the ground maneuver, it was clear that the hostages could be rescued, and that the directive that was passed was directed towards this.
Against this background, Halevi approved the operation to free observer Uri Magidish on October 30, three days after the start of the maneuver.
Israel Hayom revealed a year ago that in the first week of the war, Halevi planned an operation to free hostages held at Shifa Hospital. The operation was prepared by Squadron 13 and Division 98, led by Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss, but Halevi believed that its chances of success were too low.
An IDF spokesman said: "Former Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Halevi referred to the possibility that the kidnapped would be executed in the first days of the war and expressed deep concern for their fate in the uncertainty that existed at the time. Throughout the war, he worked in every way to return the kidnapped. Any other claim is manipulation that violates the truth."
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