The head of the Israeli elite reconnaissance unit 8200, Yossi Sariel, has resigned. The Israeli army announced this. In a letter to the unit’s employees, quoted by the portal “haaretz.com”, Sariel justified the step with the “personal responsibility” he bears for the reconnaissance unit’s failure on October 7 of the previous year.
On that day, the Islamist Hamas and other terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack on southern Israel. The attackers killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage in the sealed-off Palestinian coastal area. The unprecedented massacre triggered the Gaza War.
Unit 8200, which is comparable to the US secret service NSA, is involved, among other things, in uncovering and decrypting the communications of enemy forces. Many highly qualified specialists from the IT sector work in it.
The soldiers who complete their service in the unit are in for attractive jobs in the tech industry. But like other parts of the Israeli security apparatus, the military elite in Israel is accused of having failed on October 7 of last year.
The director of Israeli military intelligence, Aharon Haliva, resigned for this reason in April. The departure of 8200 chief Sariel increases the pressure on other top officials in the security apparatus to face up to their alleged responsibility for October 7.
The Army Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, admitted their responsibility in connection with October 7, but at the same time declared their intention to remain in office until the end of the Gaza war.
