Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi looked at the western side of the Yehuda Citadel Mountains. Suddenly he turned and gestured with his hand towards the axis of travelers in the southern area of Mount Hebron. He turned to Central Command Commander Yehuda Fox and Chief Engineering Officer Ido Mizrahi and said "I will not explain to you what to do here - You will explain to me how to do it, that along 15 km there will be a solution."
Kochavi demanded to stop the infiltration of infiltrators from the West Bank into Israel's rear, while in the background terrorists infiltrated through the breached seam line in hundreds of locations to carry out attacks in Dizengoff, Elad and other cities.
The section where Kochavi was standing is a vast geographical space, an area without governments, with the exception of the training base of the Nahal Brigade, which mentions that these are pieces of land that belong to the State of Israel. Until recently, illegal residents, drug smugglers, arms dealers, burglars and thieves passed through this area almost every night. , and Palestinian furniture and vegetable dealers who wanted to slip through the taxation system at the Judea and Samaria crossings. From this area two terrorists came out in 2016 to carry out the attack in the Sharona complex in Tel Aviv, in which four Israelis were murdered. Major General Fox looked at a chief engineering officer and said to the Chief of Staff: "One hundred percent Give us a few days and we will present you with an action plan. What is being done and what is needed."
At the end of that week, the engineering plan, under the command of a chief engineering officer Mizrahi, became an operation that received the nickname "Lot", after the operation to establish the southern border in 1948. The plan was fully approved especially against the background of the warning of additional attacks to come from the West Bank.
Within a few days, the fighters of the 601st Engineering Battalion arrived in the area and set up patrol tents at the foot of the Judean citadels.
Beside them, they began to collect bulldozers from the Corps of Engineers and the heavy engineering mechanical equipment unit of the General Staff, which had been pulled from its various tasks.
"The scope of training has increased."
The Yalam unit in the IDF (photo: IDF spokesperson)
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For seven months, 37 foremen worked in the sector, senior counterparts of the land arm, each of whom has served in the engineering field for over 15 years.
They were required to provide engineering solutions in the field for a total of 94 tools.
"At the peak, more than 70 heavy vehicles were working to pave a road in the area, break roads, set up posts, dig trenches and boulders, and deal with unusual slopes," Mizrahi said.
We are observing here in the field the results of the broad engineering operation.
What are you leaving behind here?
"First of all, awareness of an obstacle. An obstacle line that they clearly cannot cross. Infrastructure that allows us to defend. An operational and administrative axis for the fighters to move on, posts that will allow a long stay. Better protection for the State of Israel. Until seven months ago, there was nothing here. Anyone who wants to pass The engineering infrastructure will be joined by radars, technologies, drones, observations, all-terrain vehicles and more." Did
the extent of the engineering forces that were here harm the training?
"On the contrary. These are engineering operations that have a tremendous contribution to competence. The troops sat for long hours in the same heavy equipment with which they will fight in Lebanon. Look for yourself. They brought a level of performance above expectations. Two weeks ago we received a letter of operational appreciation from the Chief of Staff for the entire activity, and the engineering brigades received certificates Distinction from the Commander of the Central Command for Operation Breakwater.
In Lebanon, we are required to fight in urban areas, fortified areas, mostly underground, an area saturated with population that will be used for terrorism as a human shield."
What has changed in the scope that Hezbollah has placed on the ground in preparation for a war with the IDF in Lebanese territory?
"The scope of the engineering threats has increased in an extreme manner. Hezbollah will do everything possible to achieve two ground goals: to disrupt the pace of our progress (in maneuver) and to wear down our forces as much as possible. We want to reach a situation where we will use the ground force and I have no question whether or not we will use it in the face of A large number of rockets on the back of the country"
MPs and battalion commanders are still talking about the question of trust in the maneuver and the activation of the land maneuver
.
that they have an offensive spirit and that they broadcast upwards 'we are ready for any task you throw at us'.
Although.
I tell them: 'You are citizens of the State of Israel and you understand that we will not use the maneuver to see that it works.
We will use the maneuver when we have to overwhelm the other side.
Everything falls under the war goals that are defined for the army by the political echelon.
If we didn't believe in you, we wouldn't have invested so much in you
.
"Look at what we have done since 2016. Today, every maneuvering brigade has an engineering battalion. In this regard, we are very unusual in the world in terms of the amount of engineering power invested in the brigade, because in most armies in the world an engineering battalion works at the divisional level. The amount of engineering power in the IDF is still lacking in relation to the threat as I am see him
And we have a plan in the coming years to grow a bit.
The 601st Battalion that you see here in the field has companies of fighters on top of Tiger APCs with windbreakers (protection against anti-tank missiles), armored bulldozers, and by the middle of next year all regular battalions will have robotic bulldozers."
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To the full article
"Significantly improved their abilities."
The Yalam unit in the IDF (photo: IDF spokesperson)
What is the meaning of a robot bulldozer?
"A bulldozer robot that receives an autonomous mission and operates by itself. Everything in the way is arranged by itself. There is no such thing in the world. There is no such robust terrestrial robotics in the world. Only for the IDF."
What will happen in the war?
"Each battalion combat team will receive a company combat team of engineering.
We also created a command and control mechanism for an engineering battalion that will receive an engineering mission.
This is very unusual in the world.
An engineering battalion will train a logistics axis (in Lebanese territory), secure and maintain it as a pulse axis.
All of this is the responsibility of the Engineering Directorate, because he has a great orientation to the matter, he knows how to operate bulldozers, he will build positions for tanks, he will route axes, he will bring engineering intelligence and help overcome obstacles on the way. Give him a number of tanks that floated, give him an artillery battery, But he will lead a mission. The rate of progress will be slower than we imagine because the scope of the obstacles is increasing. Why? Because the enemy will do everything he knows how to wear us down."
"They have significantly improved their ability to deal with land maneuvering. I mean, sabotage and charges. Hezbollah's sabotage array failed in 2006. This is a statement by Hezbollah, it has done dramatic work in recent years to change that. Side charges. Yakush pits, pop-up mines, Composite structures, all made in Iran, with a standard, of the highest quality in the world."
All this in the war under the responsibility of the engineering corps?
"I expect the Armored Brigade, for example, to study the threat of explosives and traps.
There is the obvious.
We will stand at the Mitzpe Metula, look at Kfar El Hayam and see obstacles in our eyes.
Lots of ground problems.
especially in winter.
Places where bridges need to be made.
Blown bridges that need to be overcome.
Narrow hinges that need to be widened.
You see them in the eyes.
The complexity will be what we don't see.
We don't see all the charges.
It's an event.
And you have as a brigadier general an engineering battalion, which is his entire role."
How do the engineering forces prepare for vast spaces with different types of IED sites and hidden mines?
"We are doing everything we know how and to the best of my knowledge we are among the most advanced in the world in improving the means of exposing the enemy's infrastructure with an emphasis on the obstacles, charges, the underground, etc. In the worlds of ongoing security? I say modestly that we are the best in the world. The enemy's underground. Routinely? I'll show you a complete handling of a cargo arena where no soldier accesses the cargo. I'll bring it back and dismantle it because I have time. Technological control (robots). All great. Under fire, will be more complicated. We want To bring part of the advantage we have in border protection to maneuver. The Panda, the robotic bulldozer, is a pioneer in this idea. The battalion front is robotic. It does things in an automated way and the price is low."
What will the Lebanese territory look like in combat?
"After the blows of the IDF, you will meet an area that has been through an experience.
We called it a crushed area.
On the one hand, this (surface bombing from the air and the ground against terrorist targets) should make it easier for me, because I want to believe that I have hit most of the enemy elements on the ground.
When you enter the MLA (land training center of the IDF in the Negev) it didn't intercept 100 missiles. If I put 100 of them on the MLA, it's not the same exercise. There is a change of mind between the wars. The biggest engineering operation for which they received a TLS and a Peres Israel's security is the success of the Suez Canal.
As soon as Eric Sharon's division moved to the other side, the business (engineering AB) was over.
In Lebanon, when you arrive at a certain place, no one raises a white flag.
There is a lot of death and destruction.
And you have a threat to the axis, Jobites who jump from underground.
Therefore, the main task of the engineering framework is to sit on a space cell and start to disassemble it.
To locate his command and control complexes, rocket launch sites, IDF warehouses, where there are charges that have not yet been placed in the field, and simply destroy them.
In contrast to all the engineering forces in the world which have three main roles: to enable maneuver, to prevent enemy maneuver and the survival of the forces.
The Israeli Corps of Engineers is the only one that has a fourth mission - destroying enemy infrastructure.
Why?
Because we look at the day after.
We always understand that it doesn't matter when we get out of Lebanon and it doesn't matter in what order.
The last day of the war is the first day of building up the enemy's strength for the next war."
What has happened in the villages in southern Lebanon since 2010, during which the IDF uncovered Hezbollah's underground and above-ground fighting compounds in the village of Al Khayyam?
"It is more fortified.
Working to protect the power and hide it.
More than we've seen.
Because there was time.
This time in an offensive and not a defensive orientation.
One of the tasks of the engineering forces is to
locate Hezbollah's camouflaged launch sites in every village where Hezbollah's arrays were built, and according to sources in the security system there are thousands of such, some of which are located in apartments, buildings and some of which are dug underground.
"There will be information that we will receive before the operation about the location of the sites, there will be real-time information that will be uploaded and entered into the systems and there will be sites that we will have to locate ourselves," explained Kahnar and added, "Each maneuvering brigade has a company combat team of the Yael unit that includes a Yael patrol team that specializes in engineering intelligence , water crossings, treatment of surgical sabotage such as the destruction of a certain structure at a high professional level. , a weasel team that knows how to deal with underground challenges and a bomb disposal team to treat trapped areas. I commanded such a team in the 2nd Lebanon War as Commander Yael."
"The world of drones has reached incredible capabilities."
The Yalam unit in the IDF (photo: IDF spokesperson)
The Corps of Engineers has undergone a revolution in recent years, especially in the recruitment motivation of the youth.
Adopting technological means, changing the terms of service, and the quality of the command led as of Nov. 22 in relation to the 1-3 preferences of the youth to 2.2 interested in each available place.
In the meantime, the Yalam unit (engineering unit for special tasks), which is the highlight of the engineering corps, became sought after among candidates for the security service. From the scope of a large battalion, it became a brigade under the command of a lieutenant colonel and four lieutenant colonels under him.
The scope of its operational activities, including the borders, with an emphasis on operations in enemy territory, which Kahnar refused to comment on, have been defined as broad since its establishment. Since 2019, they have received a Major General's Award for locating six Hezbollah tunnels on the Lebanese border, a Major General's Award for unique ground activity on the border of the Gaza Strip , an operational appreciation letter from the Chief of Staff for classified activity in enemy territory, and a certificate of excellence from the Central Command commander for operations in the last six months.
You are a senior officer in the IDF. How do you see the clashes between IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians in recent times?
The Chief of Staff published a letter about it.
"I think our soldiers function in a very complex environment. More complex than what I was required to do as a soldier. For all the possible reasons. Also the level of friction. Also from the fact that everything is online. This means that every action you take immediately translates into tens of thousands of views. It immediately puts them under such tensions and others. The army is a mosaic of Israeli society. You will find everything in it. We try very hard every day to put them on the same track. Not by coercion, but rather with hierarchy. On the same track that says: Gentlemen. Everyone comes from a different position, from different beliefs, from different experiences, but the code of conduct here is expressed In the spirit of the IDF and the principles of war and in the tactical case in the opening fire instructions this is the code of conduct.
You can like it or less.
It seems offensive enough and defensive enough to you.
That is not the question at all.
The role of commanders, and there will always be a gap between what we say and how it is translated on the ground, is to reduce the gap.
Like the gap between training and war.
Our job is to minimize
And recognizing the fact that this distance exists is part of the role of commanders in such events.
They have happened in the past and I believe they will happen in the future.
Our job is to reduce them to the minimum possible, and to respond to them in the clearest and most direct way.
The Chief of Staff did not wait. He responded a few hours after the incident and it is possible that in the investigation and in the investigation other things will come up. It does not matter. You are talking here about the speed of the response. If he issues the letter in a week...and if he did not issue a letter they would say why are you not responding ... We will never be perfect in this uniform. There will always be criticism of some kind of decision. I argue that when you are in a dilemma between doing or not doing, do. Even at the price that criticism will come."
If he issues the letter in a week...and if he didn't issue a letter they would say why don't you respond... we will never be perfect in this uniform.
There will always be criticism of some kind of decision.
I argue when you are in a dilemma between doing or not doing.
Made.
Even at the price of criticism."
If he issues the letter in a week...and if he didn't issue a letter they would say why don't you respond... we will never be perfect in this uniform.
There will always be criticism of some kind of decision.
I argue when you are in a dilemma between doing or not doing.
Made.
Even at the price of criticism."
Soon, girls will compete for combat positions in the Yalam. How are you preparing for this?
"For the past few months, the Combat Engineering Corps has been leading headquarters work on the integration of female fighters into the Yalam unit. This January, there will be a dedicated screening for girls who meet the threshold data. After the initial screening, the relevant candidates will reach the screening technician in the unit".
What is Yalam's contribution to Operation Shaver Galim?
"Each special activity is accompanied by a bomb disposal force and a 'snowy slope' for hacking and handling charges. There is no force without the components of the IDF inside.
The only one that doesn't accept Yalam is YMM.
She has everything.
Also the demolition of terrorists' houses in Yosh. A task that only Yehalam will do because the sabotage is very advanced.
Yehalam grew to provide a solution to the multitude of complex engineering problems. There are regular and reserve companies that work around the clock. Most of the challenges are classified but there is no end to the work. We have grown in the scope of the SP.
also for the rear.
Also for the Israel Defense Forces (weapons that will fall on the runways at the air force bases of Israel). Also the scope of the intruders so that it can support most of the operational activity of the Israeli Air Force.
What is the development in the field of technology in Israel?
"We have absorbed many types of robots for handling cargo and underground. The world of drones has reached amazing performance capabilities. Also in collection. Also handling infrastructure. Another body that supports is the Toaf, Torah and Development faction, which develops weapons.
It has a robotics laboratory, drones, handling explosives, a workshop that generates knowledge."
In the war month of the IDF, the Yahalim unit presented ground-breaking capabilities in an exercise that took place in Cyprus in the air, on land and at sea. Yahal's 'S-1 squadron'" operating under the commando brigade alongside Agoz, Maglan, and Dovdvan, received a unique mission to reach deep into enemy territory, very far from the country's borders, to locate sensitive and complex Hezbollah targets and destroy them.
"The challenge in Cyprus was working in complete isolation and the fact that this force continues to function," explained Brigadier General Mizrahi about the performance of the S-1 Squadron that simulated an operation against the Hezbollah headquarters, "this requires a high-level field analysis.
You go to the rear of the enemy lines.
The behavior there is different from the front.
It was the rear of the enemy's formations and the geographical analysis is more dramatic.
if you are crafty
You bypass everything almost without rubbing.
The engineering challenges were around the given complex"
In the video: Lt. Col. Ido Mizrahi, chief engineering officer (photo: IDF spokesman)
"In war it will be with fire."
Yalam unit in the IDF (photo: Walla! system, Walla system!)
How do you summarize the month of the war in terms of the engineering corps?
"A month of war was the hardest I've ever known. The last week has already been tough. The scenario. Amounts of cases and reactions. We are in a very good condition. If anyone expects a war with Hizballah in a ground maneuver, it will not happen without prices. Everyone understands that. Maybe we have fantasies But it won't happen. I think about the time it will take and the price we will pay in relation to our ability to fulfill the task. But we are finishing it on very good terms."
You also know how to improvise.
In the 2nd Lebanon War, it was claimed that an IDF force activated an armored Viper (a weapon for breaching minefields) and hit a vehicle containing Hezbollah terrorists.
"A munition is a ton of explosives that you land in the middle of the street, or up a mountain, to break through passages and minefields on the Syrian front.
We also have floor rockets.
They are air-fueled rockets that were planned to be launched against minefields and we use them today to deal with payload bays.
The amount of anti-aircraft that lands in the same field cell completely violates it. This is a type of independent engineering fire that we must maintain. There will be no air force for anything."
In a moment we will finish the 15 km long tour. We will pass Dakika, a Palestinian village, between the school and the Palestinian Authority Flag Mosque, and Major General Mizrahi recalls one moment when everyone was reminded of Operation Lot, which led to the closing of the border. We are in a helicopter with the Chief of Staff. Yehuda Fox and I see a bulldozer on the side of Mount Hezron. Its shovel is the one that makes the path. It is as if stuck in the middle of the mountain. He has no path forward. He needs to break through it. The Chief of Staff points to him, and all of us We understand that this is the breaking of a mountain axis, and we talk among ourselves about how the bulldozer creates reality.
We will come next week and he will be on the other side of the ridge.
He was just at a dramatic angle.
This engineering challenge, the mountainous axis?
We will have many such mountain roads in Lebanon.
In war it will be with fire."
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