An IDF officer harshly criticized the army in front of the top command during his parting speech at a change of command ceremony on Monday.

Maj. Gen. Nimrod Aloni, the outgoing commander of the Depth Corps and former commander of the Gaza Division, issued a scathing indictment of the IDF leadership, saying: “I’m leaving an army in which the concept of responsibility has been trampled and desecrated and which has lost the confidence to put its failures on the table.”

Aloni, who commanded the Gaza Division about a year before the October 7 massacre, spoke about the period leading up to the disaster: “Two years ago, we tried to contain our enemies to the south and north, believing that time would work in our favor, that it would better the economy, and that we could maintain the status quo for the long term. We were wrong—all of us.”

He continued: “We are now in the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time more than any other for teshuvah. In my cheshbon hanefesh, I will carry four burdens: my failure to prevent the murder of the Fogel family; my decision, at the request of the Southern Command chief, to drive to the command headquarters on October 7 instead of to the embattled kibbutzim on the Gaza border; my failure to actualize the intended role of the Depth Corps headquarters; and my soldiers who fell under my command.”

IDF Chief of Staff Zamir spoke after Aloni but chose not to address the harsh criticism aimed at him and other senior officials, instead praising Aloni for his service.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)