Brig. Gen. Amit Sa’ar, who was head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate’s Research Department at the time of the October 7 massacre, died overnight into Thursday at the age of 47.
Sa’ar announced his retirement from the IDF in April after being diagnosed with a malignant tumor requiring immediate treatment.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Sa’ar was “a dedicated and talented officer whose service in military intelligence was long and important.”
He “looked at the failure with courage, took responsibility for it, and continued with intelligence operations critical to the continuation of the war after the colossal failure” on October 7.
Sa’ar served “with deep pain and piercing self-criticism that were always evident on his face,” Eisenkot added.