IDF chief ties Yom Kippur War and October 7 at new 38th division drill

The Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attended the first training exercise of the army's newly formed 38th division this week, according to a statement from the IDF spokesperson. The statement did not give the location of the exercise or describe the drills carried out.

Speaking during the exercise, the chief of staff linked the anniversaries of two wars that began with attacks Israel did not anticipate. He said the week marked 53 years since the Yom Kippur War and three years since what he called the October 7th Massacre, describing them as "two painful shortcomings, two failures" joined by a common thread. The central lesson, he said in remarks released by the IDF spokesperson, is that the IDF "must always be prepared for a surprise war".

Who was speaking

The Chief of the General Staff is the most senior officer in the IDF and commands all of its branches, answering to the defence minister and the government. In Hebrew the post is commonly called the Ramatkal. The IDF statement refers to the officer by title only and does not name him.

What is known about the 38th division

In the IDF, a division is a large formation made up of several brigades along with supporting units, and it is typically assigned a sector or a type of mission. The spokesperson's statement describes the 38th division as new and says this was its first exercise. It does not say when the division was established, which command it falls under, whether it is made up of regular or reserve soldiers, or what sector or role it has been given. Readers should treat any claims about its purpose that do not come from the IDF with caution.

The two wars he cited

The Yom Kippur War began when Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated assault on Israel on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Israeli intelligence had not expected an attack, and the early days of fighting went badly for Israel before its forces recovered. The war led to a state commission of inquiry and remains a reference point in Israeli debate about intelligence failure and military complacency.

The October 7th attack refers to the Hamas-led assault from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, in which gunmen overran border communities, army posts and a music festival. It was the deadliest day in Israel's history and triggered the war in Gaza. As with the Yom Kippur War, the attack came as a surprise to Israel's security establishment, and questions about how warnings were missed have dominated public discussion since.

The two anniversaries fall close together in the autumn. By drawing them into a single message, the chief of staff framed both as failures of preparedness rather than as isolated events, and told commanders that the threat of a surprise attack should concern everyone in the army.

A message to commanders

The statement also began quoting the chief of staff on the conduct he expects from officers, addressing a commander who does not question things and who entrenches himself. That portion of the statement, as received, breaks off mid sentence, so the full point he was making cannot be reported here.

What the statement does not say

The material available comes from a single source, the IDF spokesperson, and covers only part of the chief of staff's remarks. It does not name the chief of staff, give a date or place for the exercise, or explain what the 38th division is for, how large it is or when it became operational. It does not say what the exercise involved, which units took part, or whether other senior officers attended. The rest of his comments on commanders who fail to question their assumptions are cut off. No independent reports of the exercise were available to compare against the IDF's account.