The plan is to catapult the army into the next generation; But even though he sees it as an appearance, economic reality may devour it. • Meanwhile, the IDF maintains readiness, and this week the first Givati ​​based simulator exercise was conducted. • But economic reality may devour it.

Anyone who has recently met Aviv Kochavi could not miss the fact that the chief of staff is concerned. Not the responsibility on his shoulders, as his big plans for the IDF revolution will remain on paper.

The shooting of David's shields and the threat in Hebrew: the poison video of Hezbollah's elite unit

Kochavi is convinced that the multi-year program, "Flywheel," is the key to launching the IDF into the next generation. He talks about it with the enthusiasm of a child: his eyes shine, his hands draw in the gradients of change. It's hard to cope with his flux, and belief is on the way. For a limited review, Stars likes to hear others, but not everyone listens, only a few win the things they say will also be recorded in his yellow notebooks, if he had a star in the voices around him, he would have to go back to the drawing board. The compass is accurate, but the problem is that its chance of being fully dead is low.

Not guilty of this, of course. He put a plan on the table, but then came three election campaigns, the government never approved the plan (nor the multi-year budget outline that was supposed to support it), and when it finally seemed dry on the horizon, the Corona arrived.

The IDF did not really feel the corona in the economic aspect. For him, business continued as usual, and so did the plans. When it became necessary for the difficult economic situation in the economy that required a belt, anonymous officials said that in the struggle between life (physical security) and quality of life (economic security), The first is growing, copyright on this statement is reserved to ask Mofaz, during the height of the second intifada and the economic crisis that followed, but then buses and restaurants exploded, and masses of Israelis were killed. Today, the security situation is greatly improved, and the economic situation is bad, even very bad.

This means that the big plans remain partly on paper. The IDF can only dream of the annual increase promised by Prime Minister Netanyahu (NIS 4 billion a year). Staying in its current budget would be a miracle. Kochavi says in discussions that he understands that the situation has changed and the IDF will have to contribute his part to the national effort, but in the same breath he makes it clear that "momentum" is an accomplished fact that has already begun.

AMN reaches tank. Major General Kochavi and Brigadier Age // Photo: Liron Moldovan

It is doubtful whether these two parts of the sentence can coexist. One of the chief of staff even claimed that "the commander does not live up to what is happening in his unit." Another champion warned that stars would end up like his superior - Defense Minister Gantz - who completed his entire term as chief of staff without a multi-year plan.

"Denying enemy capabilities"

Kochavi used to say that in recent years, the gaps between the IDF and his enemies have been reduced, with emphasis on their main - Hizbullah. To the end.

"Swing" is meant to change all that. Take advantage of Israel (especially in the technology worlds) to re-open the gaps between the IDF and the enemy. The headlines it received dealt mainly with "fatalities." In popular translation: Kill the enemy. The public loved it. The decision makers, too. Stop thinking about what this means about the next war.

Brigadier General Avi Gil ended the command of Division 36 on Tuesday. There were days when this role was most coveted in the IDF: The division held the Golan Heights - in the West Bank and especially in the immediate readiness to fight against those who for decades had been the main threat to Israel, Syria - and the command. It is considered to be the most prestigious area for brigadiers and jumps safely down to the general.

In the last decade, the division has lost glamor. The Great Wars are over, Syria as an existential threat has faded, and the challenge has moved to the limits. A new division (210) was established on the Syrian border, pushing 36 from its territorial home in the Golan as well. Who has always been the queen of divisions in the IDF has been sent to focus on one major thing: preparations for war.

The enemy is no longer static. Image of a village in Lebanon // Photo: Liron Moldovan

From this place age is an expert witness. To the IDF, and to the future wars. As someone who grew up as a paratrooper during the Lebanese Security Strip, through counterterrorism in the Judea and Samaria (including commanding a cherry unit), to the positions in the Southern Command, he knows all the changes that the IDF and the region have undergone. Which is very opinionated, worth listening to.

"When I was MM, I had weapons and a connection to call artillery, but I saw an enemy in my eyes. We killed terrorists in quantities in Lebanon, and we still lost in the war, "he says." The lesson is that our job is not to count bodies but to deprive enemy capabilities. In headquarters, in the media, in weapons. "

Hezbollah has been studying since the days of the Security Strip. He was assimilated into the population, and out of which he fought in the IDF. That is what characterized him also in the Second Lebanon War. But since then, the organization has changed again. He is no longer waiting for the IDF behind, in the villages, but in Kadima. His Radwan battalions are expected to storm in the next war on the Galilee (as are Hamas's hiding battalions in Gaza). Instead of maneuvering, the IDF will first have to defend.

"We have become accustomed to dealing with a static enemy. Maneuvering into the villages. The challenge is another day. They are looking to rub with us in our territory. The next war will be crowded: it will begin the exit of the IDFs that will absorb fire. The days were over that we could sit in a convention area near the border and think we were protected. If the battalion commander fails to understand it and retire his operational complex in an unprotected location, he will snatch a suicide bomber into his headquarters. "

Gill says all past maneuver programs required a change. "As soon as we go on the attack, we will be supreme, but it will take some time for us to get there. With power as we are waiting on the border, it is not just going through them and moving on; this is the main challenge we face. We think in terms of attack, but first and foremost to protect: that they are not They will go into localities and kill civilians, and they will not be able to disrupt our maneuver. "

Hezbollah's Radwan battalions gained considerable operational experience in Syria, and when the war ended they were diverted south to their original mission - a war with Israel. Hezbollah originally planned to send them through the secret tunnels it dug into Israeli territory, but its exposure forced it to change its operational plans. And still, the main idea remained as it was: the occupation of the Galilee.

"Our commanders will be required to do both defense and attack in the next war. Traditional it was, but we have become used to the enemy in recent years and we are only making an attack. It requires us to replace a floppy disk, because it will be a real war from the first moment. With many casualties due to the power and quantity of rockets and means. We will need commanders' leadership to move forward. "

Gil is worried about the growing unwillingness to pay a price for our existence here. "I understand that democracies and free peoples don't like wars. Boots on the ground It's shit. It's dirty. It's soldiers in closets. In general, war is shit, but somebody has to do this job. And in my shift it's my job. We have to fight. The goods. Not without casualties, but also not to get stuck 100 meters from the border when the home front is absorbing fire. We will have to fight properly and the public will have to understand that it will have a price. "

"In such an exercise sweat from the head"

Gil is very familiar with the ideas of Chief of Staff Kochavi. In his next role, as head of the Torah Brigade and training in the General Staff, he will regularly challenge them in the General Staff exercises. In the meantime, he has examined them in the field.

"The ideas are right. We need to know how to expose the enemy, process the information, and be able to attack it in a short time. The more capabilities we can and the faster we will reach his centers of gravity and we can defeat them."

Both defense and attack. Turn over as part of the exercise // Photo: Liron Moldovan

The patented trick that "momentum" seeks to achieve is to allow the force to observe a certain area, say a village in southern Lebanon, to give it a complete and accurate X-ray to pinpoint exactly where it is (terrorists, weapons, other capabilities), and bring them accurate and rapid fire (even without entering) For the exact figure, the program of very ambitious stars). In other words, bring all the capabilities of the IDF to the operational edge of the field.

Gil believes it's possible. Some of that is already working. In his division, some of the tanks have the latest version of the DIG (Digital Dry Army) system installed. It allows to bring all the capabilities of the AMN up to the individual tank level in the relevant cell. Connecting the IAF to this system will also enable intelligence and fire optimization for enemy exposure and destruction.

Some of these capabilities were tested this week in Givati's divisional exercise. This exercise did not take place on the ground but in the Julis camp: it was the first brigade exercise in the new format, known in the IDF as "Simultaneous Civil War."

At first glance it seems a bit strange. Instead of mud / sand - air-conditioned tents. Instead of tanks / armored vehicles - computer monitors and plasma screens. The lack of soldiers may also be confusing: the exercise is only for officers, from the R&D level and above (with the exception of exceptional department commanders).

But after being weaned off conservatism, you see the benefits. The main one is the close connection between the training and the operative outline of the war. Instead of "conquering" a random Israeli settlement that doubts a real challenge, commanders are required to conquer the same villages in Lebanon where they will be required to fight. 

Exercise's technological infrastructure (from Elbit's creator, which won the tender to operate the facility) very closely resembles reality. Intelligence injected into it is real, and the dilemmas with which commanders are required to face are real: from casualties and hijackers, through missiles and rockets, and to the need to use a variety of weapons in the changing realities of the battlefield. Every commander has all the means at his disposal in real time: from the aircraft, through intelligence, cigarette and electronic warfare, to ground platforms and weapons. 

"The idea is to teach a commander to Hizbullah's Radwan unit," says Col. Erez Alkabetz, who is in charge of IDF headquarters training. "The downside here is clear: the physics of the area is not. No computer knows how to simulate the feeling of driving at two in the night in mountainous terrain. On the other hand, there are advantages: no enemy on the ground will simulate what we know how to do here. "

The entire practice is filmed and recorded, commanders are required to deal with decisions and mistakes they have made and to learn lessons. The Air Force has been working this way for a long time; The Land Army still needs to prove that it is mature enough to adopt similar norms, especially with regard to accepting responsibility.

The new format of the exercises caused quite a bit of resistance inside and outside the army. The IDF explained that the goal is to close gaps at the battalion and company level, and that there is no intention of eliminating the divisional exercises in their traditional form.

One should hope that the IDF does not fall in love with the new format. It will be preserved as well. Currently, this is the intention. Givati ​​practiced full exercise last year, and now a simultaneous exercise. "Here you are not sweating from the armpit but from the head," says Givati ​​Brigadier General Itzik Cohen. "I have to work from the book, to be accurate, to constantly deal with the gap between what I wanted and planned for what I did. It's a very advanced war game, which allows me to go back to the programs and change them according to what we've learned, but it's not a fire drill. In the end we will have to know how to deal with the physics of life. "

Starfish visited Givati ​​on Tuesday to see his baby take first steps. Earlier in the day, he went up north with Gantz to look a threat in the eyes. Both were commanding champions, both recognizing the challenge well. Stars will now need to convince Gantz of her response, and even more so - to harness him for the simple battle over budget backing for the program.

Gantz is very fond of my stars, but not sure that he will go with him to this canopy. His eyes are on the prime minister for a year and a half; This requires him to have a broader national vision than the net security needs. His executive arm will be Amir Eshel, the incoming Director General of the Ministry of Defense (and formerly the Air Force commander). Eshel will not make an easy living for the Treasury, but neither will the Ministry of Defense and the IDF. It is likely to challenge every plan and convention, including those that underlie "impetus." The chiefs of the CEOs and the chief of staff have already recommended time for joint breakfasts for future dispute resolution.

As always in the Middle East, reality may devour all programs. It happened with the Corona, and it might happen again. With Hezbollah provoking the IDF in the north, Hamas showing growing nervousness in Gaza, and with the prospect of annexation in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley whose security implications are unclear, there is always a chance that a war will break out that will solve everyone's dilemmas.