Former Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi speaks at the Shurat HaDin Rage Against the Hate conference in New York on November 1, 2026. Photo: Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center (@ShuratHaDin) via X
Herzi Halevi, Israel’s former military chief, said in his first public remarks since leaving the post that the October 7 attack could have been prevented but was not enabled by betrayal inside the security establishment.
“October 7 was a preventable failure, but there was 100 percent no betrayal from within,” Halevi said on Sunday, November 1, at a conference on fighting antisemitism hosted by the Israeli legal advocacy group Shurat HaDin at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. It was the first time he had spoken publicly about the Hamas attack since he stepped down as chief of staff in March 2025, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Halevi said the political leadership “needs to say this loudly and clearly.” “I know how October 7 happened, down to the smallest details. I know the people, and I do not believe that any of my colleagues, after decades of service and risking their lives, would one day decide to help Hamas,” he said, according to a translation posted on X by Guy Azriel (@GuyAz). Helping Hamas, he said, would have required not one person but “a very extensive network,” and “after three years, not even one such person has been found.”
The claim that the attack was made possible by traitors inside the army or the Shin Bet has circulated widely in Israel since 2023, including among supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has resisted calls for a state commission of inquiry. Halevi said Israel “must complete the investigation and ask hard questions” as part of its healing, according to Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran), who reported on the speech.
He also defended the war in Gaza. “Without strong military pressure inside Gaza, we would not have been able to bring back the hostages. I can prove this,” Halevi said, according to Eli Afriat (@EliAfriatISR). He said it “took us a long time to convince the political echelon to maneuver in Gaza,” and acknowledged that “our bombs killed hostages,” saying this was unintentional and that the army did not know the hostages were there, Oseran reported.
Halevi described how Israel misread Hamas before the attack. Israel’s priorities were Iran first, then Hezbollah, then Hamas, because the army, the Shin Bet and political leaders believed Hamas did not want a war, he said, adding that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar worked to cultivate that belief. Ynet also reported that Halevi said Israel had prioritized Iran over Hamas.
He also revealed a message sent on the day of the attack. “In the late morning hours of October 7, we conveyed a message to Hezbollah: ‘We were caught by surprise in Gaza, but we are watching you closely. If you make even the slightest move, a very heavy hammer will come down on Lebanon,'” he said.
Halevi led the army through the first 17 months of the war and resigned after taking responsibility for the failure to stop the attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 251 were taken hostage. His remarks come days after Israel’s October 27 election, as opposition leaders, including another former army chief, Gadi Eisenkot, try to form a government.
Arutz Sheva, the Israeli news site, reported that he urged the political leadership to state publicly that there was no betrayal.
Israel’s Channel 14 quoted reserve Brig. Gen. Oren Solomon as saying that he also found no signs of betrayal. Solomon blamed Halevi and the General Staff for what he described as poor performance and “criminal negligence,” and he alleged that investigations into the failure had been covered up.