"The next war will be urban, in the heart of cities, dirty and below ground." • John Spencer, head of urban combat at the US Military Academy, arrived in Israel to prepare for the next campaign • "We led the fighting to where the enemy could hide"

• "The next war will be underground"

  Photo:

  Eyal Margolin / Ginny

"The next war will be urban, in the heart of cities, dirty and underground. We have invested in technologies and reached the point where we are capable of harming anyone, anywhere and at any time, but that also has a drawback - we have led the fighting to where the enemy is able to hide," John warns. Spencer, head of urban combat at West Point - US Military Academy.

This week, for the first time, various experts in the field of underground fighting convened for a conference on "Underground Challenges" in War and Peace, an initiative of the Interdisciplinary Center, West Point and the American Embassy. Experts in the field of warfare and technology, as well as historians and geologists who worked on the same field in the explosive field, which Israel has known for many years, have exchanged ideas to upgrade the doctrine of every military in the field.

Spencer, formerly a Major (Major) in the U.S. Infantry, served in the U.S. Army for 25 years, including fighting in Iraq. For the past six years, he heads the field of urban combat and future officer training, in his field becoming the biggest challenge of his time. Every army around the globe.

"Some might say that in ancient times there was urban fighting, but to me it is a false statement," he explains. "Armies have always worked to protect cities, but never in content, and they have tried to avoid such battles in every way. In the last decade, however, every significant battle has taken place. Inside cities, and I believe that will be the case in the future.

"More than 50 percent of the world's population lives in cities, and when it comes to Western countries, that figure rises to nearly 90 percent."

Behind Spencer is a lot of research into the Israeli war on terror, including operations in Gaza. "You can learn a lot from the wars and operations that Israel has participated in over the years," he says. "Other armies try to avoid urban battles, but the Israeli military cannot ignore it."

Richmond Lightning (right) and Spencer // Photo: Yossi Seliger

Despite the massive increase in urban battles, and the fact that fighting in cities is part of the future, Spencer notes that the world is not paying enough attention to the matter: "West Point is learning a little from Israeli experience. You can always learn more. That's one of the reasons this conference is so important. International in the field. No more important country than Israel can be contacted to understand how to fight underground. Israel has been dealing with this for a long time, and now we can start sharing information. "

Looking down? That's an idea

Maj. Gen. Mickey Edelstein, one of the developers of the combat theory in the terror tunnels in Gaza, made it clear to the conference that he is urgently preparing for the underground fighting: "There is a hundred percent chance that we will face the challenge of the tunnels in Gaza and Lebanon. "We have been able to change the situation a little bit with regard to the assault tunnels, but not with regard to their defense, command and launch tunnels."

Things that are about the IDF's readiness to fight tunnels are also true in the world. "The US military has only now spent millions to train its underground forces, but that's not enough. It is necessary to transfer this to the academic field and from there to combat theory, ”says Spencer.

Would you like American officers to come to Israel to see and learn the tunnels that were caught?

"Yes, definitely. It has to be explained that this is a bigger problem than anyone thinks. Israelis are aware of the problem, but the world is not. In 2015-2013, 45 terrorist tunnels exploded in Iraq and Syria. I was in Iraq in 2008, and today the threat of underground 20. It's scary.

"I never thought to look down, but in Iraq and Syria you should look down, because this is a significant threat. Terrorist organizations are transmitting information - from Israel to Syria, and from there to Iraq. We see a huge leap in tunnels between buildings and bombed assault tunnels. Is one of our key issues. "

Dr. Daphne Richmond-Berk, a world-renowned tunnel research expert who published a book on the subject this year and chaired the conference this week at the Interdisciplinary Center, reinforces Spencer's remarks. "Today you cannot feel safe at any stage of the fighting, because the enemy Can get behind you or you. "

Enemy Service Infrastructure

Richmond Lightning points out that there are not many disadvantages to military superiority, "but there is one important thing - when you develop high-tech capabilities in war, you have to be ready for Low Tech. It's not an existential danger, but if you don't "It's not a matter of tunnels, but balloons and explosives. It's a hassle, non-existent but existing. You need to think about the disadvantages, however minimal, that come with military superiority and prepare for them in original ways.

"In Israel, the tunnels problem is specific to us, but there are tunnels in Mali, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and they can reach Europe as well. The issue must be brought to world attention, as a global threat."

Israel, she says, has something to learn from the world. "The IDF needs to learn the new US doctrine. This is the first time something so comprehensive and unclassified is being published."

"The terrorists," she says, "create a zero-sum combat game because the subterranean neutralizes military supremacy. We need to connect what we know about urban combat with underground combat, to make the two together a critical war tool against the enemy."

Spencer adds: "Every major city in the world has a tunnel system that could be used by the enemy. Nowadays, if you search for professional material on Google, you will hardly find it, and it is absurd. The current US Army doctrine states that 'the underground is extremely dangerous and should be avoided. At all costs, "but that's not the world we live in.

"Al-Baghdadi was hiding in the tunnel. We have street maps in cities, but we have to search for specific places to find out. We have invested in technologies and military supremacy above the ground, now we have to go underground."