Israel has been devastated by the massive failure of its vaunted organizations following last week’s Hamas attack.
Tel Aviv:
The head of Israel’s Internal Security Agency (ISA), Ronen Bar, took responsibility for failing to thwart Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, which killed more than 1,300 people, but vowed to fight to the end for a decisive victory in the war.
Mr. Bar said in his first comments after the surprise attack, which left everyone in Israel shocked, that the ISA “failed” to generate an alert.
“Despite a series of actions we took last Saturday, we unfortunately failed to create sufficient advance warning that would allow us to thwart the attack. As the one leading the organization, the responsibility for this lies with me” , Mr Bar was quoted by local media on Monday.
However, he emphasized that “there will be time for investigation. Now we are fighting.”
The intelligence officer noted that on the day of the attack, his organization set up a special system, in coordination with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), to locate, identify and concentrate efforts to recover kidnapped and missing persons .
They also formed several dedicated teams depending on the needs of the fighting at the time, he said.
“Our men showed bravery, courage and fighting spirit. The troops deployed in the south moved from battle to battle, facing off against dozens of terrorists. We lost ten of our best men, many of us were wounded and the soldiers lost their family members. Countless stories of heroism have emerged, with workers trying to participate without hesitation,” the head of the ISA (also known as Shin Bet) pointed out.
“All employees of the organization arrived at their units, task forces were established and special teams were created. Anyone who carried a gun went to war,” Mr Bar said.
“Our operators from Task Force Tequila went to war, the investigators brought intelligence from captured terrorists, and the field coordinators conducted the intelligence gathering operations,” he said.
The ISA head added that the “intelligence triangle has a purpose and delivers results.”
“We are at war, not ‘one more round’. ‘One more 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 limit, there is no time limit. Until the end,” Mr Bar claimed.
Israel, known worldwide for its intelligence network, has been devastated by the massive failure of its vaunted agencies.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi had also taken responsibility for failing to stop the attack last week.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
