
The head of the ISA, in his first comment on the surprise attack by Hamas, said: "We failed to generate a sufficient advance warning, the responsibility is on me."
ISA director Ronen Bar addressed the ISA and the families of its employees in a letter following the Hamas invasion of Israel.
"Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, last Saturday, we were unable to create a sufficient advance warning that would allow us to thwart the attack. As the one who heads the organization - the responsibility for this is mine. There will be time for investigations. Now we are fighting."
"Our men showed bravery, courage, and fighting spirit. The forces deployed in the south and moved from battle to battle, facing dozens of terrorists. We lost ten of our best men, many of us were wounded, and the servicemen lost their relatives. Countless stories of heroism have emerged, with workers striving to engage without hesitation."
"All of the organization's employees arrived at their units, task forces were created, dedicated teams were established. Everyone who carried a weapon went down to fight. Our operators from Task Force Tequila went to fight, the investigators brought intelligence from captured terrorists, and the coordinators in the field went through the operations to collect intelligence. The intelligence triangle has a purpose and is producing results."
"Already on the first day of fighting, we set up a special system, in cooperation with the IDF, to locate, identify, and concentrate efforts to recover kidnapped and missing persons, as well as various dedicated teams, according to the needs of the fighting at the time."
"We are in a war, not 'another round'. 'Another round' is won with an image of victory and in silence, a war ends with a decision and a change in the situation. There is no border limit, there is no time limit. Until the end."