Major General David Zini, Commander of the Training and Education Command and Commander of the General Staff Corps, revealed in a conversation with residents of Kibbutz Mefalsim the severe failures of October 7 - calling them: "A crazy failure, worse than the Yom Kippur War.".
Kan News reported that Zini, who arrived on October 7 from his home in the Golan Heights to Kibbutz Mefalsim and participated in battles against Hamas terrorists, told the residents of the kibbutz: "It was not the number of fighters, but the way the defense was organized, which was organized for a special operation and not for a raid or a broad surprise attack - that was where it was decided. Our inability to see the enemy's method - that is the heart of the failure.".
Zini spoke about the goals of the war and referred to the hostages: "We are in strategic tension between two war goals. Between attacking everything that comes out of Gaza - and risking the lives of the hostages. It is clear to you that the story of the great efforts we are making to bring all the hostages back as quickly as possible, is delaying the second achievement.".
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The major general referred to the risks posed by the Gaza Strip: "On a realistic level, anyone who expects to leave here with the promise that on some date there will be absolutely zero risks, is part of thinking that we are in Switzerland. These are aspirations that do not correspond to our general situation.".
He rejected the explanations he heard for the failure: "There are many people who ask, how can this be? This is someone who was deliberately negligent. I completely understand the question, because how can it be that the IDF, with such crazy intelligence, how did we not see what everyone saw? But the easier statement is to say that there are two, three, five, fifty who were deliberately negligent.".
Zini clarified: "This can happen even without someone intentionally not seeing, and this is the heart of our failure, because the army is supposed to know how to see even when they want to hide from it. And we failed in the fundamentals of the military profession in many areas and not just one point.".
He detailed the failures as follows: "We allowed the enemy to establish themselves on our fence, on the border. We preferred peace to an initiated war - and there are places where a war needs to be initiated to remove the threat. We were not prepared for a broad attack. The defense at the borders was built on warning and deterrence, but the time span between the exit from Shajaiyah to Nahal Oz is not a time span that allows for warning.".
Regarding the intelligence failures, he said: "We failed in the strategic perception in understanding Hamas, which committed fraud here and sent Islamic Jihad to carry out operations, and in recent years has deliberately broadcast that it wants a settlement. We assessed that Hamas is deterred and does not want war.".
Zini explained the Air Force's difficulty that morning: "When our concept of security is based on warning and x hours of readiness, there is great difficulty in lifting what we have not prepared. In the Air Force, what is not prepared in advance takes a lot of time - preparing the tools, bringing in the mechanics, loading bombs. And when the Air Force bases are under fire, then the ability to get the planes forward decreases. The Air Force was here around 9:30-10 in the morning with some of the tools.".
The general acknowledged the weight of the failure: "I hear people who find it easy to be wise after the fact. And yes, there are those who will say that this sounds exactly like Yom Kippur. They are absolutely right, and the failure here is greater than the failure there.".
At the end of his remarks, Zini apologized: "I would like to apologize on behalf of the IDF. I don't think there are words that can describe the apology we owe to civil society for this crazy failure. We will do everything so that it doesn't happen again and so that all the lessons are learned and assimilated, and for years to come.".
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his decision to appoint Major General David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet.
