Israel Weapons Industries (IWI), which was apparently considering hiring Maj. Gen. (res.) Aharon Haliva, the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate at the time of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion, has ended contacts with him after protests by hostages’ families.
On March 12, Israeli business news site Calcalist reported on talks between Haliva and businessman Samy Katsav, founder of SK Group Ltd., which owns IWI, with an eye to hiring Haliva.
Calcalist reported on March 13 that hours following its initial report, it learned that talks between the parties had been canceled in the wake of anger from the families.
There had been several meetings between Haliva and IWI over the last several weeks, The business site reported. When contacted by Calcalist, the company said no agreement had been signed between the parties. It didn’t deny that talks had taken place.
On March 13, the company announced that “IWI does not employ Aharon Haliva and will not employ him in the future as well.”
On April 22, 2024, Haliva stepped down as the army’s intelligence chief, acknowledging his failure to detect the attack.
“The Intelligence Directorate under my command did not live up to the task it was entrusted with,” Haliva wrote to then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Haliva was on vacation in Eilat when the attack took place.
