Two years after ground operations in the Gaza Strip began, the IDF has started examining the ground battles in both the south and north, Israel Hayom has learned. Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir established a committee and teams to investigate the numerous battles fought over the past two years in Gaza and Lebanon, after the military lacked the opportunity to examine them during the war, particularly not in depth.
Maj. Gen. Dan Noiman, commander of the military colleges, will coordinate the investigations in a secondary appointment as head of the Training Division, the military's training branch. This body was once a General Staff unit of the IDF, later becoming the Torah, Assessment and Training Brigade in the Operations Division. Now this body is being reestablished under Maj. Gen. Noiman, who will coordinate investigations of the numerous battles from the past two years, working with the Torah, Assessment and Training Brigade and the Operations Division.
The military is currently building the roadmap for conducting battle investigations, with plans to establish investigation teams. Sources involved in the details told Israel Hayom this investigation process will last at least several months, given the many battles IDF forces fought over the past two years.
The IDF plans to identify the main and primary battles, focusing primarily on those, and ultimately distributing the investigations and their conclusions across the organization to build the force according to the findings and learn from the key lessons for the future.
Since the IDF spent the past two years primarily on the fighting itself, preparations for combat and force refreshment, the battles have not been investigated in an organized and in-depth manner until now. However, immediate and clear lessons were extracted on the spot and distributed among forces to improve fighting methods in real time and protect troops.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman is expected to present the findings Tuesday to the Chief of General Staff from the committee reviewing the October 7 investigations and the preceding period. The committee team comprised senior reserve officers, including Maj. Gen. (res.) Eli Sharvit, former Navy commander, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin, former Air Force commander, Lt. Col. (res.) Talia Lankri, and Brig. Gen. (res.) Yuval Bazak, who lost his son, Sgt. Guy Bazak, on October 7.
Lt. Gen. Zamir appointed Turgeman on his first day in the position to review war investigations conducted during the previous Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi's tenure, aiming to classify investigations into three categories: sufficient investigations to be accepted, investigations requiring completions, and investigations to be opened and conducted anew.
After presenting the team's findings to the Chief of General Staff today, its conclusions will likely be presented to IDF General Staff members later this week, and subsequently to the public. It's important to note that Turgeman's team and Turgeman himself have no mandate to draw personal conclusions regarding officers – that exclusive mandate belongs to Lt. Gen. Zamir. However, the Chief of General Staff will likely consult with Turgeman regarding personal conclusions about officers.
Another committee Chief of General Staff Zamir has already announced establishing is a decorations committee. Currently, its members and head have not been appointed, and its operational mode has not been finalized, but it will be authorized to recommend to the Chief of General Staff and Minister of Defense on awarding decorations and citations – the Medal of Valor, the Medal of Courage, and the Medal of Distinguished Service. Since the state's establishment until today, only 40 courage citations have been awarded, the most recent given after the Yom Kippur War.
