The year 2023 will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the formative years of the defense establishment, as well as of the State of Israel as a whole. It began with the fierce and difficult public struggle over the legal reform, which threatened to divide and divide the Israeli people and society. Although the military leadership tried to do everything possible to distance the political debate from the IDF, it did not succeed, and the IDF, as a reflection of Israeli society, has reluctantly become one of the rocks of contention in the deep debate.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi: "Anyone who calls for non-appearance harms the IDF and the security of the state" // Photo: Knesset Spokesperson's Office
Reservists, especially pilots, who opposed the legal reform, decided to use their reserve service as leverage to pressure the Israeli government not to continue its moves, and openly announced that they would suspend their volunteering for reserve duty if the government did not change its ways.
The chief of staff, the commander of the air force, and the entire army leadership spent hours and hours dealing with what appeared to be the disintegration of critical values in the reserve army, and what bothered the heads of the defense establishment most was the suspension of volunteering of fighter pilots, who possess irreplaceable strategic competence.
The "Brothers in Arms" protest and the threat of not reporting for reserve duty, photo: Eitan Elhadez/TPS
The rift in the nation undermined deterrence
This is not the place to determine whether the government should be blamed for continuing to advance the legal reform despite the enormous public anger and the damage to security, or whether it was the reservists, especially the reserve pilots, who acted irresponsibly when they announced that they were suspending their volunteering for the reserves.
But what is clear is that already in real time, the defense establishment warned that Israel's enemies identify the internal rift as a fundamental weak point, in a way that has severely undermined Israeli deterrence.
Although Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet warned of a weakening of Israeli deterrence in light of the internal situation, neither changed the basic perception that Hamas was deterred and that it had no interest in confronting Israel. The conventional wisdom was that Hamas, as the governing body responsible for the population of Gaza, would be satisfied at this stage with improving the economic situation of the civilians. To keep the peace, Israel allowed the terrorist organization to receive suitcases of money from Qatar and provided thousands of Gazan workers with work inside Israel.
Palestinian workers entering from Erez Crossing, photo: AFP
Despite the warnings of the observers, and despite the signs that were accumulating, almost no one at the top of the intelligence branch agreed with this mindset, because of the concept. Even when a few, including Antagonist V, pointed out the unusual occurrence, no one at the top was shocked, no one had the red lights on.
The Great Intelligence Failure
On the eve of the attack, in the absence of an intelligence warning, and when the Judea and Samaria sector was defined as a "burning" sector with serious shooting attacks several times a week, the General Staff decided to reduce the order of battle in the Gaza envelope, and on 6 October a reinforcement battalion was sent from the Gaza envelope to Judea and Samaria.
The night before the attack, certain intelligence indications were received, which led to consultations at the top, and caused the head of the Shin Bet to send a small team south for fear of kidnapping. But no one imagined the magnitude of the event, and the head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliwa, who was on a family vacation in Eilat, didn't even answer the phone that night.
Burnt house in Kibbutz Be'eri. The North doesn't want a similar scenario, Photo: Micha Brickman
Gaza village two weeks after the beginning of the fighting // Photo: Shmuel Buchris
And so, on October 7, at 6:28 a.m., 50 years and a day after the surprise attack of the Yom Kippur War, the State of Israel woke up to one of the most difficult days in its history, if not the most difficult. Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired within a few hours, thousands of terrorists broke into Israeli territory. They burned, raped, massacred, murdered and kidnapped many Israelis, civilians and soldiers, women and men, children and the elderly.
Within a short time, Israel declared war, known as "iron swords," on the Gaza Strip, whose two main goals were the toppling of the Hamas regime and the return of the abductees to Israel.
After a massive air strike, about three weeks after that Black Saturday, IDF forces entered the Gaza Strip for the deepest maneuver there in recent years. Now, more than 80 days have passed since that Black Saturday, more than 160 soldiers have fallen during the ground maneuvers, but so far the goals set by the government for the defense establishment have only partially been achieved.
The destruction in Gaza, photo: AFP
Reservists in staging areas near the Gaza Strip border. Leave behind family, business, studies, photo: Shmuel Buchris
War far from the border
But as is well known, the war is not being waged in the southern sector alone. The most serious threat comes from the north, where fighting has been going on since 8 October. As of now, Israel and Hezbollah are keeping the fighting close to the border, but as time passes, the war escalates, and tens of thousands of residents of the conflict line who were evacuated from their homes have no horizon for returning home.
At the same time, the Judea and Samaria sector threatens to wake up, and Israel is also forced to deal with a new threat from the Houthis in Yemen, who threaten to block shipping routes to Israel and launch drones and missiles into its territory. Add to this the Syrian sector, the threat from Iraq, and of course the head of the snake – Iran, which continues to pull the strings and is closer than ever to nuclear capability.
And when that is the reality, there is no doubt that all of 2024 will be marked by war.
A soldier prays on a tank near the Lebanese border, photo: Eyal Margolin/Ginny
Picture of the Year 2023
Picture of the Year. IDF forces in Gaza, photo: Oren Cohen
The people of Israel live. After the murderous terrorist attack on Simchat Torah, hundreds of thousands of IDF fighters waited on the border, and behind them the entire nation of Israel, for the IDF's response to the murderous attack - the eradication of Hamas through a ground incursion. On the day of the order, hundreds of thousands of fighters entered the Gaza Strip, young men and women of the generation scornfully referred to as the "iPhone generation" and reservists who left behind the disputes and went united in battle. They are the face, they are the flag, they are the revival.
Heroes of the Year - Alert Squads and Warriors
Heroes of the Year. Members of the preparatory squads, photo: Eyal Margolin/Ginny
The heroes of 2023 are undoubtedly members of the alert squads in the envelope, who were attacked on 7 October by thousands of armed terrorists. They left their families, took up arms and went out to fight for their homes. They were joined by regular and reserve IDF fighters from all over the country. Since then, tens of thousands of fighters have been fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Disappointment of the Year - Intelligence Directorate and ISA
Disappointment of the year. Military Intelligence, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
There is no need to say too much about the failure of intelligence, which failed to predict a planned attack by thousands of terrorists on October 7. Military Intelligence, the Shin Bet and the political-security leadership were captive to the concept according to which Hamas is deterred, makes do with suitcases of money and work visas in Israel, and has no motivation for terrorism.
The promise of the coming year - the reservists
Next year's promise. The Milominoks,
On 7 October, hundreds of thousands of reservists reported to their units without being summoned. They put on uniforms, armed themselves, wore vests and wanted to fight at the front. They have left work, business, family and children, and many have been recruited for more than 80 days. The state, in its insolvency, still does not ensure that they are not harmed economically.
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