Commander of Israeli intelligence unit resigns over 'systematic failure' of Oct. 7

The commander of Israeli military intelligence's Unit 8200, Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel, notified his superiors and subordinates Thursday that he intends to resign over the unit's failure to prevent Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

Unit 8200 is responsible for clandestine operations, collecting signal intelligence and decryption, counterintelligence, cyberwarfare and surveillance. It has become famous not only for its outstanding cyber capabilities, but also over the high number of its veterans establishing successful startups.

In a letter to his subordinates, Sariel wrote that despite the intelligence gathered and distributed on Hamas' plans and preparations, "basic intelligence and military assumptions" turned out to be incorrect and the unit failed to do "what we were expected to do."

Sariel said that since Oct. 7, he has asked himself the reasons for this failure and what he could have done differently. "On Oct. 7, all of us, the intelligence and operations system, failed to connect the dots, to see the whole picture and prepare for the threat that emerged. The responsibility for the part of Unit 8200 in this systematic failure is all on me."