Top Shin Bet Official Recounts Oct. 7 Trauma, Daughter's Death

Mira Shoshani, formerly the highest-ranking woman in the Shin Bet and head of its operational division on October 7, has spoken publicly for the first time about the Hamas attacks. In an interview for a film aired Wednesday on Channel 12, Shoshani described trying to manage the fighting from a safe room in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, her husband's injury while attempting to rescue their daughter, and the loss of her daughter, Ofir, who was killed in the "Young Generation" neighborhood of the kibbutz.

Shoshani, a resident of Kfar Aza for 21 years, admitted she was part of the intelligence "concept" that underestimated Hamas. On the morning of October 7, she was told the initial gunfire was a drill, but she immediately recognized it as a full-scale attack. "I thought a lot about what I would say if I were captured," Shoshani stated. "It crossed my mind many times that if I am captured, it should be clear to everyone that they must kill me. No one should try to save me, they must kill me."

While Shoshani was in a safe room with her 12-year-old son, Amit, her daughter Ofir was in her room. Her husband, Shai, was severely wounded in the shoulder while trying to reach Ofir, eventually barricading himself in an armory after discovering that members of the local security team had been killed. Shoshani managed the situation remotely. Ofir reported being shot at 10:15 AM and sent a final message, "Mom, I love you," at 11:46 AM before contact was lost. Shoshani was evacuated later that evening and continued to manage operations from the Shin Bet's Ashkelon command post. She learned of Ofir's death on Monday afternoon.

During the fighting, Shoshani became a target for potential rescue due to sensitive information she possessed. Despite her personal tragedy, Shoshani and her family faced accusations of betrayal and preferential treatment from the Shin Bet regarding rescue efforts. Shoshani vehemently attacked these claims, stating, "We are accused of something so serious at the same time we are paying an inhuman price. Tali Gottlieb should be ashamed." She expressed deep pain over the silence of the Prime Minister and Defense Minister regarding these accusations.

Feeling a double failure as a senior official and a mother, Shoshani resigned from her position. "The girl who was my whole world is gone. I felt I failed, I couldn't save her. I failed in the mission of my life," she said, adding she cannot forgive herself. She criticized the lack of accountability, stating, "It wasn't just the Shin Bet that failed, everything failed. The army failed, the policy failed. It's such a huge professional failure. To conduct a deep inquiry is to understand where we erred, because if we don't understand, we can't fix it."

In Ofir's memory, Shoshani established the "Ofir Center for Leadership" to train emergency commanders based on her daughter's beliefs. "The decision to engage in life and commemorate Ofir with something alive keeps me alive. I think she would be proud of me for that," Shoshani concluded. She advised those training at the center to "be humble, that's the key to success. Anyone who leaves here must think: 'This could happen to me.'"