Grieving Mother Confronts Former IDF Intelligence Chief Over Oct. 7 Failures

Shelly Meshel-Yogev, mother of 22-year-old Libby Cohen-Meguri who was murdered on October 7, confronted retired Major General Aharon Haliva, the former head of Military Intelligence, during a chance encounter in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park. In a video shared on social media, Meshel-Yogev can be heard accusing Haliva, who lived nearby, of failing to act and show up after her daughter's murder. "You live a kilometer from our house and you didn't come. You know her father and you didn't come. Don't lie," she stated.

Meshel-Yogev further expressed her anguish, questioning Haliva's whereabouts and demanding he acknowledge responsibility. "Where are you? Where were you? My daughter is buried because of you! You should feel humiliated and bear responsibility, not breathe and say 'I want to come to you, I want to cry with you, because I suffer too.' You need to say you suffer like me! Don't you understand that?" she implored.

She contrasted Haliva's perceived inaction with the actions of IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who she said had called to offer condolences and express a desire to visit. Meshel-Yogev has been campaigning for those in senior positions during the October 7th Hamas attack to accept responsibility for the failures that led to the massacre.

Libby Cohen-Meguri, a resident of Tel Aviv, was killed by terrorists on Route 232 while attempting to flee the Nova music festival. She had served as an operations sergeant in the Southern Command. After leaving the festival grounds around 6:30 AM on October 7th, her escape route was blocked by a traffic jam on Route 232. In her final conversation with her mother at 8:11 AM, Libby reported being shot in the abdomen and hand, and that those around her had been killed. She was murdered shortly thereafter.