New Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Saturday announced that he had appointed an external panel of former senior officers to evaluate the military’s probes into Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and oversee implementation of the findings.

The IDF’s October 7 investigations were led by former chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. Upon entering the role earlier this month, Zamir said he would appoint an external panel to look into those probes.

The move was made by Zamir out of “the IDF’s deep commitment to processes of learning, streamlining and improvement, especially during the war, and for an analysis and examination of the operational, professional and organizational insights,” the military said in a statement Saturday.

The panel is to be headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, a former head of the Southern Command. The other members include former Navy chief Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit; former IAF chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin; Maj. Gen. (res.) Yossi Baidatz; Brig. Gen. (res.) Yuval Bazak; Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Levi; Brig. Gen. (res.) Meir Finkel; Brig. Gen. (res.) Yom-Tov Tamir; Col. (res.) Avi Eliyahu; Col. (res.) Talya Lankri; Col. (res.) Benny Da-Levi; Col. (res.) Gila Goldrat; and Lt. Col. (res.) Livnat Bar David.

The IDF said the team was chosen based on their “rich experience and in-depth acquaintance with different and varied areas of work in the military, and out of a desire to reach diverse perspectives.”

The team will “formulate the mechanisms and processes required to implement the lessons learned from the investigations,” as well as add to or reexamine........

© The Times of Israel