Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel, commander of the IDF Unit 8200, has announced his resignation nearly a year after the intelligence failure that failed to prevent Hamas’s deadly October 7 attack. Unit 8200, the IDF’s primary signals intelligence unit, is one of the entities identified as responsible for missing key warnings leading up to the assault.

In a letter to his subordinates on Thursday, Sariel acknowledged his role in the failure, stating, “On October 7 at 6:29 a.m., I did not fulfill my mission as I expected of myself, as my commanders and subordinates expected of me, and as the citizens of the nation I love so much expected of me.” He added that in light of these failures, he was taking personal responsibility by stepping down as the commander of Unit 8200 and allowing new leadership to take over.

Sariel, who took command of Unit 8200 in February 2021, is expected to be replaced “in the coming period,” according to the IDF. His resignation comes after months of internal and public scrutiny regarding intelligence lapses that failed to detect and prevent the massive attack by Hamas, which left around 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage.

In his letter, Sariel acknowledged that Unit 8200 had produced detailed reports about Hamas’s operational attack plans in the months leading up to the assault. Despite the intelligence gathered, he admitted, “the detailed information… did not succeed in shattering the intelligence and military foundations either within the unit or among our partners.” He noted that the unit had been unable to translate the warnings into actionable intelligence that could prevent the October 7 attack.

Reports over the past year revealed that Unit 8200 had issued several warnings about Hamas’s intentions, including a detailed document in April 2022 outlining plans for a large-scale invasion of Israel. Additionally, in late September 2023, just weeks before the attack, the unit compiled a dossier warning that Hamas was training for a major offensive. Despite these warnings, they were largely dismissed by senior intelligence officials.

Sariel’s resignation follows the departure of several other senior security officials in the aftermath of the October 7 attack. In recent months, the head of the Shin Bet security agency’s Southern District, the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, and the head of the Gaza Division have all stepped down.

Sariel’s name, typically kept private due to the sensitive nature of his role, became public in April when it was leaked following the publication of a book he had written under an alias.

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