IDF Chief of Staff Praises Sergeant Major for Warning of Hamas Attack

The IDF's senior command convened on Sunday at the Glilot base, led by Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, to discuss the lessons learned from the October 7th attacks and their implementation. During the meeting, key findings from post-attack investigations were presented. Zamir presented a commendation to Sergeant Major W., from Unit 8200, who authored the "Jericho Wall" presentation. This presentation had warned prior to October 7th that Hamas was preparing for a large-scale surprise attack.

Zamir stated, "It was important for me to invite Sergeant Major W. here. W. is a clear example of intellectual courage and professionalism. In our organizational culture, we must not allow a patronizing discourse, intellectual tyranny, or the suppression of critical thinking. We, as commanders, must ensure that we demand freedom of expression from our personnel as an essential component of our operational culture and our units." The officer who was responsible for her at the time and dismissed her warnings, Lieutenant Colonel Aryeh Amidror, the Head of Intelligence for the Gaza Division on October 7th, was recently dismissed from permanent service following the Chief of Staff's decision. The Supreme Court rejected his petition, allowing his name to be published after his service termination process was deemed lawful. The "October Council" responded that Amidror "ignored a long series of warnings, particularly the warning attempts by Sergeant Major W."

The Chief of Staff also remarked, "I chose to convene the senior commanders' forum today, on the eve of the National Day of Remembrance for the October 7th events, as a message." He added, "We are examining the status of implementing lessons from the October 7th investigations, recognizing the magnitude of the failure while understanding that we must not dwell on it, but rather learn, draw conclusions, improve, and move forward. The events of October 7th continue to accompany us, and our duty is to ensure they do not happen again."

According to Zamir, "The year 2027 will be designated as the year for investigating the entire war and drawing lessons from it, both strategic and general lessons for the entire IDF. We are building the IDF's strategy with our reference scenario being readiness for a surprise war, including thwarting serious threats in their formation, this is our operational compass." Regarding force structure and future deployment, the Chief of Staff noted, "One of our greatest lessons is the need to expand security margins. The State of Israel is geographically small and lacks strategic depth, situated under multi-front threats. We must build the IDF's strength in the face of all challenges and threats. The size of the IDF is our strategic depth. Therefore, we must increase the IDF and adapt it to its expanding missions."