Former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was recorded saying that he "gives credit" to Hamas for managing to “sedate Israel" and carry out the October 7, 2023 massacre. In recordings published on Army Radio , Halevi said: "I have no choice but to give credit to Hamas for the way they tricked us. They managed to sedate us with the civil rioting and humanitarian situation." Halevi was also recorded saying that "in all the training we did and all the discussions, we did not ever contemplate the possibility that 5% of what happened could happen." In his farewell speech, Halevi said: "On October 7th, the IDF failed. This was a colossal failure, but it is not true that a failure of this magnitude should be investigated only by the IDF and the Shin Bet. A state commission of inquiry is necessary and essential, not in order to find those to blame, but first and foremost in order to get to the root of the problems and enable us to correct the situation." Halevi emphasized his commitment to personal responsibility and noted: "I see responsibility as a matter of values, not a legal issue. Values are higher than the law. I always felt my responsibility as the chief commander of the army, and especially on Simchat Torah. This will remain with me forever. The responsibility to the civilians, the officers and the soldiers who fought fiercely and did not return, to the people who waited for the IDF that did not come, to the wounded, to all the hostages." Halevi then turned to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "The IDF is sometimes treated aggressively. This happened before and during the war. It doesn't help us become better at our job. It might damage the trust of the regular soldiers in their commanders, and the trust of parents whose children risk their lives on the battlefield. The erosion of the IDF will not help national motivation and individual choice to serve in years to come." Halevi added an implicit criticism of the government: "You don't have to be a combat soldier to express an opinion, but some of you who preached about the lack of courage and determination have never felt a cold trigger at night in the face of an enemy, have never heard the breathing of a wounded comrade on a stretcher as you carried him through hostile territory. IDF officers are not heroes in retrospect, and they do not choose to be part of a maneuver based on its success rate. We are responsible for both the good and the bad."
