Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, the commander of Israeli Intelligence Unit 8200, informed the IDF Chief of Staff today (Thursday) of his decision to step down from his role.
In a letter distributed within the unit, Sariel wrote, "On October 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. I am seeking to fulfill my personal responsibility as the commander of the unit, and at a time determined by my superiors, I will pass the baton to the next in line."
Sariel went on to detail the initial investigation conducted within the unit "on our role in the intelligence failure of October 7" and the unit's activities during the war. He concluded by mentioning the benchmarks he set for himself, which led to his decision to pass on "the baton in this relay race." These included "the state of war in various sectors, the resilience and operational continuity of the unit in particular, and Military Intelligence in general, as well as the investigation processes meant to clearly identify the necessary corrections and changes we must undertake."
He conceded that he failed in his basic role of sounding the alarm across the board in the case of an imminent threat of war, which could have spared the lives of more than 1,000 Israeli residents murdered on Oct. 7. "The detailed information we collected and distributed to the various agencies about Hamas' plans and preparations failed to shatter the basic intelligence and military assumptions, neither within the unit nor among our partners. We did not bring the intelligence gold that would could determin the H-hour for the attack."
Sariel's name made headlines earlier this year in an embarrassing context, after the British newspaper The Guardian revealed his identity due to a "significant security breach," as the report described it. According to The Guardian, Sariel published a book on Amazon under the pseudonym "Brigadier General YS" titled The Human Machine Team. Its publication led to the exposure of a private Google account under his name, including a unique ID and links to maps on that account.
With this decision, Sariel joins other senior IDF officials who have resigned following the failure to protect Israel on October 7, 2023. Before him, Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aharon Haliva stepped down in August this year, and the head of the Research Division, Amit Saar, resigned after a malignant tumor was discovered in his body.
