IDF Officer Postpones Retirement to Rebuild Border Defense After Oct. 7 Failures

Lieutenant Colonel Eitan Dana, who fought in Sderot on October 7 and later commanded the collection of bodies from the Gaza envelope, has postponed his military retirement to focus on rebuilding the defense system for Israeli communities. Dana, 43, a father of six, was slated to leave the IDF in 2024 after over 23 years of service. He acknowledges a personal and collective failure on October 7, stating, "We failed on October seventh in defending our people. We failed in many and I failed individually." This recognition of failure motivated his decision to stay and dedicate time to strengthening the defense of Israeli towns and villages.

Dana described the profound shock of October 7, when civilians were murdered in their homes, emphasizing how it shattered the fundamental sense of security that homes and communities are safe havens. This understanding shaped his approach when he took command of the "Mivtzar" school, responsible for training and building the capacity of local defense forces. He views his role not as a final step in his service, but as an opportunity to rectify the systemic failures exposed on that day.

Recounting his experience on October 7, Dana was dispatched to Sderot and its surroundings, taking responsibility for combat operations. He described moving from house to house and junction to junction to regain control. Subsequently, he led a task force responsible for searching and collecting hundreds of bodies from the Nova music festival site and surrounding Gaza envelope communities. This direct exposure to the scale of the disaster and its human cost deeply impacted him.

Dana distinguishes between the failures of October 7 and the subsequent "Swords of Iron" war, seeing the latter as the IDF's resilient response. However, he stresses that the IDF's later successes do not negate the initial failure to protect civilians. He believes every commander and career officer bears responsibility, regardless of their direct involvement in specific combat zones that morning. He highlighted that 46 community defenders and security coordinators were killed on October 7 alone, a stark contrast to the fewer than ten killed in such incidents between the state's founding and that day, underscoring the urgent need for a revised defense concept.

Under Dana's renewed command, the "Mivtzar" school has undergone significant expansion. The number of permanent staff increased from three to over 18, with dedicated branches established in the north, south, and center to manage the defense of approximately 420 communities and tens of thousands of local defense personnel. Over ten new training programs have been developed, incorporating heavy machine guns and other weaponry, with hundreds trained in operational drone operation. New combat doctrines and defense concepts have been drafted and adopted by regional command generals and brigade commanders, adapting to the reality of prolonged and extensive threats to communities.

Beyond operational and organizational changes, Dana was part of the "Commanders Who Deliver" team, tasked with presenting operational debriefing findings to bereaved families. These meetings were personally challenging, requiring him to convey findings with sensitivity yet without evading the truth and command responsibility. He sees this process as a commitment to transform the families' pain into learning and that learning into accountability, ensuring the lessons learned directly influence future training and defense strategies.