'Failure to answer critical questions': Kibbutz Be'eri reacts to results of IDF Oct. 7 probe

Kibbutz Be'eri members said the IDF “failed to answer critical questions” in its investigations of October 7. 

The members of Kibbutz Be’eri, who were the first to hear about the findings from the first round of October 7 IDF probes, responded on Thursday with both appreciation and a call for further investigation into the events of that black day.

According to kibbutz members, the probe was thorough. It helped the kibbutz members understand “the depth and complexity of the events that occurred” during the devastating Hamas attack.

However, the kibbutz members also said the IDF investigation “failed to answer critical questions”.

Some of the still unanswered questions include, “Why did numerous military forces gathered at the gate of the kibbutz [on October 7] not enter for many long hours while the kibbutz was burning and its residents were crying out for help?”

“What caused the intelligence failure that allowed Hamas’s invasion plan, and how was the border fence breached without an immediate IDF response? Did the soldiers who arrived at the kibbutz understand that their primary goal was to protect civilians?”

Furthermore, kibbutz members demanded that the probe continue and will be followed by the “establishment of a state inquiry committee that will leave no stone unturned and examine the conduct of all involved parties.”

“[The IDF] must provide us with answers that will allow us to begin to heal and draw practical conclusions for the future so that the unimaginable loss we experienced will never be experienced again by any other citizen; so that we can rebuild our trust in the security forces, and so that we can return to live in Be’eri with a sense of security.”

Members of the kibbutz unable to forget the IDF faliure

In addition, the kibbutz members stated that the IDF’s failure since October 7 has impacted their sense of well-being.

“We feel the failure in the loss of our 101 members, our loved ones, and our family members, in the 11 members of the kibbutz still [kept captive] in Gaza, part of the 120 who must return home; we see it in the destruction of the kibbutz and in being refugees in our own country for the past nine months,” kibbutz members said.

Additionally, kibbutz members expressed their appreciation that the IDF is taking responsibility and is asking for forgiveness for “its absolute failure in protecting [them].”

“We see great importance in the IDF taking responsibility and admitting its absolute failure in protecting us and in asking for forgiveness for abandoning us for so many hours, during which we were under an unprecedentedly evil attack,” members of the kibbutz said.

They also thanked “the heroism of security forces and volunteers who fought in Be’eri” on October 7.

The members added that “Kibbutz Be’eri demands the return of all the hostages and the immediate promotion of a deal to bring our members home. Action must be taken now so they do not become the subject of another inquiry committee in nine months.”