Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, the commander of Unit 8200, an IDF Intelligence Corps, informed IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi of his resignation, Israeli media reported Thursday.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, much criticism was directed at Military Intelligence Chief Aharon Haliva, as well as other senior intelligence IDF commanders. One such commander is Brigadier General Sariel, Commander of Unit 8200, who was sworn in in February 2021.
The key criticism against these commanders is for failing to provide a warning for Hamas’s invasion on October 7, in which the terror organization took 251 people hostage and approximately 1,200 other people were killed. Among the senior IDF intelligence commanders, Haliva was among the first to take responsibility for the intelligence failure, and in April, he resigned.
On Thursday, Brigadier General Yossi Sariel announced his resignation in the coming weeks. His decision will pave the way for a General Staff appointment discussion, which will result in the selection of the next commander of Unit 8200. “The unit, which has become an international brand, is expected to undergo rehabilitation after the major crisis,” a security official told Walla.
In his resignation letter, Sariel stressed that he “failed to understand the need and therefore did not adequately reflect the requirements of the unique reality at the Gaza border.” He further explained that he “did not emphasize that in a reality where there are effectively two Nukhba commando divisions at the Gaza border, just minutes away from Israeli settlements,” as well as emphasize the gravity of repeated encounters between enemy forces and IDF forces on the border.
“The responsibility for 8200’s part in the intelligence and operational failure rests entirely with me,” Sariel emphasized in his resignation letter.
Commander’s identity revealed
In addition to his role in the October 7 failure, Sariel faced another intelligence mishap. As the IDF’s 8200 Intelligence Unit commander, which often deals in classified operations, his name and identity are a secret.
However, in April, the British news outlet The Guardian reported that Sariel’s identity, which was supposed to remain secret, was exposed following a book he wrote.
According to The Guardian, Sariel’s book was published on Amazon. However, even though his name was listed only by initials, a strange glitch left “digital traces leading to a private Google account containing his full name, along with a unique ID and links to maps and his profile’s calendar.”
Shortly after, another report surfaced in The Guardian, revealing that Sariel also held Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and LinkedIn accounts. His Facebook account, which has since been deleted, even contained a photo of him.
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