Eyeless in Gaza.

 

I’ve borrowed the title of this week’s post “Eyeless in Gaza” from Aldous Huxley’s novel (1936) who in turn borrowed it from a phrase in John Milton's “Samson Agonistes.” Like the legendary Samson in Gaza, we were blinded by a false sense of security.

 

I’m quite familiar with the Gaza periphery, its communities and terrain. I was a member of Kibbutz Nirim for four years when I settled in Israel in 1961.

My eldest daughter, Daphna, was born there.

At that time, Gaza was an Egyptian enclave and the Egyptians were our enemies. Since then, a lot has changed. New communities have sprung up, Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel and Hamas controls the Gaza Strip

Later, I left Nirim and moved to Ein Harod.

I have family and friends at Sde Nitzan, one of the Gaza periphery communities. Over the years we visited them often, visits that enabled me to continually update my “mental map” of the area.

That being said, I am hard put to understand what happened there.

The round-the-clock TV panel discussions only tend to add to the confusion.

Surfing the internet hasn’t been too productive either.

Invariably commentators, observers and experts of all kinds have likened   Israel’s current imbroglio to past military intelligence failings. They say it was our “Pearl Harbour Moment”, Israel’s “9/11” and of course, the Yom Kippur War intelligence fiasco.

Let’s forget comparisons and concentrate on how Hamas managed to fool us.

In my humble opinion Lt. Col. (res.)Peter Lerner, a former IDF spokesperson managed better than many other observers to explain how we were hoodwinked.

I am including here some of his conclusions: -

“What is clear, is that Israel’s advanced technology, ironclad defence systems, and some of the best intelligence units in the world, faltered.

How did Israel, a nation always on alert, find itself in this precarious position? 

Mainly because of complacency rooted in a perception of our own invincibility, a failure to adapt to evolving threats, and in my opinion a severe underestimation of Hamas’ capability and resolve, what is called in Israel ‘the concept.’

Our society is in a state of shock and disbelief. Not now, but eventually the government and the defence establishment will be held accountable.

Israel's robust defence system, the Iron Dome, has successfully intercepted countless rockets over the past decade. Combined with a billion-dollar barrier built along the 65-kilometre demarcation line with Gaza, a false perception of infallible security was created. A perception that Hamas is not interested in war with Israel because of the price the organisation and the people of Gaza have paid over the last 10 years. This might have led to a skewed sense of invulnerability even against land-based invasions, overshadowing the need for ground defence preparedness.

Historically, the threat from Hamas has been asymmetric warfare, with rockets, tunnels, and suicide bombers. The concept of a large-scale land invasion might have been discounted as a viable threat, given Hamas's resource constraints and Israel's military superiority. There might have been errors or misinterpretations of data regarding Hamas's intentions or capabilities, echoing the intelligence failures of the Yom Kippur War.

Israel might not have conceptualised a direct, bold land invasion by Hamas.

Once the dust settles, lessons need to be learnt in order to prevent future miscalculations, we will need a holistic re-evaluation. 

While air defence is crucial, ground and cyber defences should not be neglected.

Israel must continually reassess its threat models, understanding that adversaries can and will adapt their tactics.

Bridging the gaps in intelligence gathering, interpretation, and dissemination is imperative. This might mean investing in more human intelligence on the ground and fostering better communication between agencies.

Israel should periodically review past mistakes, both its own and others', ensuring that complacency never sets in again.

It’s appropriate at this juncture to include other sources: -    

Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) quoting a number of experts and former intelligence officials said,

“The Hamas assault by air, land and sea raised questions as to why U.S. intelligence agencies apparently did not see it coming.” In response, U.S. officials said that if the Israelis knew an attack was imminent, they did not share it with Washington.

Colin Clarke, senior research fellow at The Soufan Centre, a nonprofit that focuses on global security issues, said Israel had to bear the main responsibility for failing to anticipate Saturday’s attack.

“Israel has exquisite, world-class intelligence collection and analysis capabilities and would have a far better picture of what’s going on in its own backyard. This one falls squarely on the Israelis,” he said.

“I’m truly astonished for something of this magnitude to go down and for the Israelis to have no clue that it was about to happen. I’m just speechless,” Clarke said, adding, “They have had sources inside these Palestinian groups for years.”

                                    

At this uber-political time in Israel’s history when the Prime Minister and his government have conducted a campaign against the faith of the public in all the institutions, the courts, the police, the military and the civil service. It is imperative to strengthen the institutions not weaken them.  

The Hamas land invasion is a wakeup call. Terrorist organisations and many in our region have still not come to terms with Israel’s existence. Many of them, like Hamas, are bent on Israel’s destruction. Most of them are incapable of destroying Israel. Nevertheless, this war underscores the timeless lesson that no matter how advanced or prepared a nation believes itself to be, there's always room for improvement, always a blind spot, and always an evolving threat lurking in the shadows. The cost of overlooking these lessons is tragically high.

I want to conclude on a brighter note.

All over Israel people have voluntarily organised and sent packages of food and clothing to army units lacking them. Places not in the line of fire, like my own kibbutz are hosting families evacuated from the Gaza periphery communities.   By some accounts, 360,000 reserve army soldiers have been mobilised. In some units the turnout exceeded 100% (people voluntarily reporting for duty).

The call up has been mainly in preparation for a ground operation in Gaza. The first cargo plane carrying “advanced armaments” from the US ``designed to facilitate significant military operations” landed in Israel on Tuesday night.

According to the Financial Times the US is sending ammunition and interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome air defence system. It has also moved a naval carrier strike group, including its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, from near Italy to the eastern Mediterranean to deter the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. In addition, it is believed   that it will supplement Israeli surveillance in the area.  

The Financial Times also reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu has suggested that civilians ‘leave’ the Gaza strip, stoking concern in neighbouring Egypt. The US is discussing safe passage for civilians with its regional allies, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday, without providing details. Egypt is unwilling to fully reopen the Rafah crossing, the only exit out of Gaza. The UN will try to set up a hub for refugees near Rafah while trying to negotiate a humanitarian corridor, Sullivan said. I hasten to add that Israel has no intention of conquering or depopulating the Gaza Strip. It merely wants to degrade Hamas’ military capability and at the same time avoid harming the civilian population.

Finally, I want to thank my family and friends abroad for their concern regarding our safety. The last time I checked we were all safe, sound and accounted for.

 

Have a good weekend.

 

Beni,         

                                                         11^th of October, 2023.