THE REVOLUTION WITHIN THE IDF:

In the February 26 edition of the Maariv supplement, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Hasson Hasson stated that the Iranians are already “at the gates.” This unsettling assessment leads to troubling conclusions. Israel could be surprised by a rocket/missile barrage that destroys vital strategic facilities. Its likely response to such an assault could incur further heavy barrages of all kinds, including simultaneous multi-arena fire of long-range, highly accurate rockets and missiles. Those rockets and missiles that are not intercepted or demolished at their launching points could destroy additional strategic facilities such as power stations, hospitals, and economic hubs in addition to vital military targets.

The IDF itself has contributed not a little to the emergence of this nightmare scenario. In the first place, it grossly underestimated enemy rocket/missile arsenals and the threat they implied, promising that those weapons would “rust in their storerooms.” And in the second place, under the influence of the Oslo “peace process” and the “end of history” atmosphere, it replaced its traditional doctrine of victory, which was based on rapid physical defeat of enemy forces, with a doctrine of “psychological victory,” which does not entail enemies’ physical defeat.

This peculiar shift brought Israel into long wars of attrition in 2006 and in 2014 in which the enemy did not conform to Israel’s expectations and was not deterred. The wars, which were devoid of significant military achievements, did not end in significant agreements. The result: Lebanon and the Gaza Strip have become forward extensions of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. They are swords whetted on Israel’s neck.

What would Moshe Dayan say?