Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. “A” was sworn in on Tuesday as the commander of Unit 8200, the military’s elite signals intelligence unit, six months after Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel submitted his resignation over the Oct. 7 failure.
“A,” whose identity will not be made public, was sworn in during a closed ceremony held at a southern Intelligence Directorate base, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Unit 8200 is considered the “eyes of Israel” and is part of the Military Intelligence Directorate. The unit is responsible for some 80% of the information gathered and produced for all intelligence branches.
In his resignation letter, submitted in mid-September, Sariel stated, “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.”
Sariel, whose identity was revealed due to a major security lapse on his part, went on to state that, “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 had previously refused to take any blame for the Oct. 7 failures, saying his team provided all the necessary intelligence. In May, his unit promoted two of its officers, drawing criticism from within the military.
In November, Ynet reported that the military was seeking to appoint a candidate from outside the system to lead Unit 8200. The news outlet identified “A” as the leading candidate. “A” did not serve during the lead-up to the Hamas attack and is not tainted by failure.
“A” did not previously serve in the unit, according to the report.
On Oct. 7, 2023, thousands of Palestinian terrorists invaded the Negev and massacred some 1,200 people, kidnapping 251 more into the Strip.
Channel 12 News reported in June of last year that critical systems used by Unit 8200 broke down on Oct. 6 and were only repaired some 90 minutes before Hamas launched its cross-border terrorist massacre.
The report, which revealed limited information on the alleged computer failure due to military military censorship rules, claimed the systems only came fully back online after the attack was underway.
A former intelligence official told the broadcaster that “if the system had been working at those hours, it is very likely that dramatic information would have arrived that would have changed the intelligence picture.”
Also in June, a three-member audit team from the IDF’s General Staff infiltrated the Unit 8200 base at the Glilot military camp in Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv. The three posed as officers and entered directly through the guard house without being challenged.
“For nearly three hours, they roamed the base unhindered, reached operational compounds, collected hundreds of classified documents and data material from secret computers,” according to a Ynet report.
If the three had been enemies, they could have caused severe damage to the base’s infrastructure, soldiers and staff in what would have constituted a huge blow to the IDF and Israel, the news site noted.
