In December 2008, at the height of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu, then opposition leader, promised: "We will not stop the IDF. We will complete the job. I will topple Hamas' reign of terror." Fifteen years have passed, 15 of them during which Bibi served as prime minister, and yesterday we woke up to a nightmarish morning in which Hamas toppled us.
The second day of the attack on the Gaza Strip: the extent of the horror in the street is exposed // Shmuel Buchris
Dozens killed, nearly a thousand wounded, and the occupation of ten communities near the Gaza Strip. And Netanyahu, this time sitting in the prime minister's chair, again promises the citizens: "We will exact a huge price from the enemy, including in the Gaza Strip." Then, as now, one no longer believes a word he says.
Two days ago we marked the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Yesterday, the counting of the Shmini Rally war began. Here, too, the main responsibility falls on the shoulders of the Shin Bet and the IDF's Intelligence Directorate.
In the Yom Kippur War, the concept collapsed. That of the Bar-Lev line, and the one on which the line of arrogance is drawn, that the Egyptians cannot and will not dare cross the Canal, and that the air force will easily eliminate them. We were surprised. They planned, together with Syria, to cross the Canal, and the Syrians almost waded their feet in the Sea of Galilee.
Hamas documents how they breached the border
Added to this was the colossal failure of the Intelligence Corps, which failed to understand the information transmitted to it in real time, and which could have led to the fact that we would not be surprised and reach the battlefield on our terms, that we would not lose 2,600 soldiers and that there would be thousands of wounded, some of whom to this day have not returned to themselves. The Agranat Committee placed full blame on the chief of staff and the head of Military Intelligence, and completely exonerated the political echelon.
In War VIII, the surprise rally is much more dramatic. Hamas, a stateless terrorist organization with limited means, is giving the vast Israel with unlimited technological capabilities a Houdini maneuver.
Without warning and seemingly for no reason, thousands of missiles and rockets were fired at Israeli cities, while Hamas forces penetrated deep into Israeli territory, took over ten communities, infiltrated IDF bases and killed and abducted dozens of soldiers and civilians. Those besieged in kibbutz safe rooms, whose homes were set on fire by the terrorists, had to decide whether to die from bullets or smoke. What a tragedy.
IDF Spokesman: Attacking the symbols of the Hamas regime - we are also deployed in the north // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
This is a crazy omission. The army, no doubt, is to blame for the tactical failure. In the absence of intelligence. In the absence of preparedness. But there are bigger fathers to this failure, and they are the statesmen, led by Netanyahu, who are to blame for the strategic failure.
Since February of this year, there have been enough signs that Hamas is monitoring what is happening in Israel following the legal reform. The arguments, the demonstrations, the division among the people, did not go unnoticed. But Netanyahu and members of his government preferred to send enormous forces to Judea and Samaria in order to protect settlers who settle on every bald mountain, and to prevent friction between them and the Palestinians.
Soldiers guarded MK Zvi Sukkot's sukkah in Huwara, instead of being near Gaza, to prevent the abduction of children, girls, boys and soldiers, and to fulfill their role as protectors of the people.
IDF soldiers in Sderot, photo: AP
50 years between the Yom Kippur debacle and the Shmini Atzeret debacle, and the politicians will again probably not pay the price. Those who will take upon themselves responsibility, by virtue of the organizational philosophy of the IDF and its commanders, will be the army commanders.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy has not yet been in office, and refusal has fallen upon him due to the reform, and this failure. And Netanyahu, as in the case of the Meron disaster, will probably say: Had they told me there was such a scenario, I would have ordered preparations accordingly.
But this scenario was written on the wall, and instead of dealing with it, Netanyahu preferred to talk about Iran. Who will stick a spoon next to us, whose intelligence on Iran is better than the one they had on Hamas in Gaza?
If that's the level, go for us.
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