(Nov. 5, 2024 / JNS) Israel Defense Forces Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi appears set to appoint a candidate from outside the system to lead Unit 8200, the IDF’s largest intelligence gathering unit.

The move is unusual. Normally, currently serving Unit 8200 officers would be considered for the position. But the failure of the intelligence services on Oct. 7, 2023 to discern Hamas’s plans has led to their disqualification, Ynet reported on Tuesday.

A discussion with the chief of staff about the appointment had been scheduled for Monday, but was postponed after earlier meetings turned stormy.

One of those considered a leading candidate had been Brig. Gen. “G.” He served in the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman), including in senior positions in 8200, according to Ynet.

His candidacy was seen as controversial, however, given his key position on Oct. 7. IDF officials said the appointment would have been difficult for the public to accept.

Following the decision to reject his candidacy, a heated argument broke out between Halevi, Brig. Gen. “G” himself and the new head of Aman, Shlomi Binder.

Brig. Gen. “G” had not been in Israel in the days before the Hamas attack, and relative to other units in the intelligence branches, the Operations Division in which he served was only considered responsible for a small part of the failure, Ynet said.

The current leading candidate is Brig. Gen. “A.” A former commander of a Military Intelligence Directorate unit, he didn’t serve during the lead-up to the Hamas invasion and is not tainted by failure, the news site reported.

On the downside, he has not previously served in Unit 8200.

Due to the difficulty of reaching a decision, additional candidates are now being considered. Two former intelligence officers, both of whom served in senior positions in Unit 8200, have recently been added to the list, Ynet reported.

“The cluster of contenders for the position of commander of 8200 has not yet been finalized and is being formed these days. Accordingly, an assignment discussion for the position has not yet been scheduled,” the IDF Spokesman’s Office said in a statement.

“When the candidates are finalized, there will be an orderly, matter-of-fact and transparent placement discussion,” it added.

The previous Unit 8200 commander, Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel, resigned on Sept. 12. Following the Oct. 7 massacre. Sariel was blamed by former senior officers in the unit for neglecting an intelligence system that supplied important information about Gaza.

“On Oct. 7, I did not fulfill the mission as I expected of myself, nor as my subordinates, superiors and the citizens of Israel expected of me,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Normally, the identity of the Unit 8200 commander is a closely guarded secret.

But The Guardian outed Sariel’s identity in April due to a security lapse on his part when he published a book on Amazon.

Sariel authored The Human Machine Team, which offers a future vision regarding the relationship between human and artificial intelligence.

An electronic version of the book included an anonymous email address traced to Sariel’s name and Google account, leading the British paper to reveal the spy chief’s identity.

The IDF called the exposure of Sariel’s personal details “a mistake” and said, “The issue will be examined to prevent the recurrence of similar cases in the future.”

Photo: IDF