The political repercussions of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict have begun to show themselves within the Israeli army. Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Aharon Haliva also joined the wave of resignations that started among military members. It is noteworthy that the resignation of Haliva, who was appointed to this post two years ago in October 2021, followed the resignations of a number of senior Israeli soldiers and intelligence officials.
All these resignations show that the army was not strategically successful in responding to the Hamas attacks on October 7, and also reveal that things are not going well between the army and the government.
Haliva, who accepted that he had failed in terms of his responsibility for not being able to win against Hamas yet and left his duty with the words “I will always carry his pain inside me”, is not an ordinary soldier. He is an extremely important figure. Born and raised in the occupied city of Haifa in 1967, Aharon Haliva was the first He is a soldier who gained a lot of experience in various duties in the Israeli army, which he joined in 1985.
Haliva, who served in the Israeli army during the violent suppression of both the first and second Intifada, the occupation of Southern Lebanon, and then played a role in the war with Lebanon in 2006, fought against the besieged coastal region in 2008-9, 2012 – 2014. He was in a leadership position in the Israeli army during the three most significant attacks.
His rise within the army is truly admirable. In 2016, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed as the head of the Technology and Logistics Directorate at the Israeli General Staff. In 2018, he became the Director of Operations and played a direct role in the 11-day war in May 2021, which Israel called ‘Operation Protector of the Walls’.
I think the reason why he is called “hawk” is that he says that the 2021 war between Hamas and Israel did not achieve its goal in providing long-term calm. In other words, this is an attitude that reveals that he is pro-war “until calm is restored”. In fact, if we remember that Israel failed in that war, we have to agree with Haliva. Hamas managed to establish a joint headquarters by bringing all Palestinian groups together in that war. This was a very important success for Hamas.
Aharon Haliva’s resignation is also a sign of the failure of Israel’s overall strategic thinking to “contain” the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, which tries to give the Palestinian people the impression that the cause of national liberation is no longer a priority issue for them and that it would be wiser to move on to other issues such as normalization. It was an indicator. It became clear once again with Haliva’s resignation that this failure caused friction between the army and the government.
Will Haliva’s resignation be followed by other officials in equally important positions? Some observers predict this could happen at any time. If expectations come true, this could put more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime government to finally make a prisoner exchange with Hamas and end the war; This may be more effective, especially when the return of Israeli prisoners is combined with large street protests calling for a change of strategy in order to hold new elections.
One should also remember other resignations that would be considered quite significant since the start of the Hamas-Israel war. Several people, including army spokesman Daniel Hagari, resigned in March. In addition to Hagari’s deputy, Moran Katz, many senior officials also submitted their resignations due to the Gaza conflict. Among the officials who resigned was General Richard Heshit, the Israeli army’s spokesman for foreign media affairs.
All these resignations reveal deep disagreements between the government and the army in recent months regarding the government’s management of the war in Gaza and its post-war strategy.
Of course, the resignation of Haliva or others cannot be evaluated as a victory for Hamas. All these people resign because they either could not see the attack coming, or could not respond to the attack as quickly as necessary, and also because they had a difference of understanding with the government. Yes, Israel could not eliminate Hamas, but Hamas has not defeated or neutralized Israel either.
Let’s see who else will follow Haliva’s resignation.
