Nitzan Alon: "There is an erosion of IDF values. Soldiers stand by in the face of illegal acts in the West Bank"
The former Central Command chief, who also served as head of the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters after October 7, warned in a conversation with teenagers about a significant ethical erosion among soldiers and commanders: "It is a byproduct of a prolonged war." He further claimed that "the political echelon bears responsibility for the conception regarding Hamas in Gaza."
Former head of the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters, Major General (res.) Nitzan Alon, formerly the commander of the Central Command, said at the opening event of the 2026 cycle of the "LEAD - Leadership Development Path" organization, that "there is a significant erosion of IDF values among some of the soldiers and commanders. It is impossible not to notice this."
Alon said in a conversation with the teenagers, which took place in the shadow of events in the West Bank, that the erosion is "a byproduct of a long and prolonged war - but not only. It is also related to the arguments within Israeli society about what are the values that should lead us."
Alon added:
"There are incidents where soldiers do not behave properly in the West Bank. There are cases where they stand by in the face of illegal and immoral acts, and sometimes even cooperate. The responsibility lies with the commanders in the army. The responsibility is first and foremost to see things and not ignore them. If the State of Israel wants to exist for generations to come, we must maintain our value aspect. This is not only because of what they will say in the world, but so that we can look in the mirror."
He was also asked about the October 7 disaster and replied:
"In my view, the political echelon bears responsibility for the overall conception regarding Hamas in Gaza. All the preliminary intelligence, together with the information from the observers and the signs that lit up at night, should have been treated as a real warning and actions should have been taken. This is the essence of the failure both at the intelligence level and at the military level."
He said these things in a conversation with the ambassadors of the LEAD program, teenagers who were identified as having potential for leadership and guidance. The organization is a non-profit organization, established with the goal of developing the next generation of leaders of Israel and has been operating for more than 25 years.
One of the ambassadors in the program, 17-year-old Shahar Gross, said after the conversation that "the meeting with Nitzan showed us that leadership is also the ability to speak at eye level and to truly listen. He did not come to lecture us, but to have an open and honest conversation with us. As teenagers who want to be the leaders of the future, it was important for us not to be afraid to ask even difficult questions. I left the conversation with the understanding that a good leader must know not only how to lead, but also how to listen and deal with difficult questions."
