Column One: The IDF’s Confusion, by Caroline Glick
Excerpts;
“Since Israel withdrew its citizens and military forces from the Gaza Strip last summer, a great deal has been written about the consequences of the destruction of the Jewish communities there for the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Much has also been said of the rising threats to Israel’s security in the South as a result of the retreat from Gaza.”
“There is a third aspect of the Israeli retreat from Gaza and northern Samaria that to date has not garnered any significant public attention. That issue is the impact of the operation on the Israel Defense Forces. Given that the IDF is the national organization charged with ensuring Israel’s survival, anything that happens to the IDF has direct consequences for Israel’s national security. And so it is worth considering what, if any, impact the operation has had on the IDF.”
“Last Thursday afternoon, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant briefed military reporters in Tel Aviv. The day before the briefing, Ashkelon’s industrial area – home to some of Israel’s most vital national infrastructures – was struck by Kassam rockets. That attack on the industrial area was launched from Gaza right after the IDF declared the successful conclusion of “Operation Lightning Strike.’ That operation was supposed to prevent the shooting of Kassam rockets on southern Israel.”
“Addressing reporters, Galant declared that on the one hand, ‘Israeli bloodshed will not be met with silence.’ On the other hand, he said, ‘I can’t say that we have a perfect response for the Kassam rockets, but our operations are effective. The Palestinians think twice before they shoot.’”
“Galant brushed off the fact that the Palestinians are lobbing rockets and mortars at Israel on a daily basis in spite of the IDF’s ‘effective’ responses, by saying: ‘You have to look at the glass as half full. It could be better, it could be worse.’”
“Finally, one week after the Palestinians voted Hamas into office, the commander who holds direct responsibility for the security of southern Israel said: ‘With our departure from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians were given the chance to choose a new path. Instead of fighting, I hope that they will choose the path of hope and of fighting terror.'”
“What Galant’s statements make clear is that in its post-withdrawal operations against Palestinian attacks, the IDF is simply ignoring its duty to secure the country. Galant’s basic message last Thursday was that rather than do its job or admit that in the absence of ground forces in Gaza it cannot do its job, the IDF excuses its failure to protect the country with hollow and pathetic political slogans. Most depressingly, the IDF does this with the full expectation that the Israeli public will not notice the fact that our army is unable or unwilling to uphold its basic obligation to the nation.”
“In an interview Wednesday with the Ynet Web site, a high-ranking officer in Central Command said that over the past year the IDF had prevented 10 Palestinian shooting attacks on Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood. He also revealed that Palestinians in the Bethlehem district possess mortars.“
“The officer seemed to be using his interview as a way to beg the government and his commanders not to take away his forces’ freedom of activity in the Bethlehem district. In his words, ‘There is a threat of gunfire attacks on Gilo, but we have an effective answer to that threat as long as we retain the freedom to act and collect intelligence in Bethlehem. Today we have freedom of action in the city, but there are mortars moving around in Bethlehem. There are attempts to transfer know-how, attempts to transfer missiles. We also see attempts to connect the area to northern Samaria and Gaza, and by that I mean in terms of weaponry, know-how and personnel.'”
“Yet, in seeming disregard to this rising terror threat, the officer said the IDF’s major activities in 2006 in the Bethlehem-Gush Etzion area would center around two issues: the construction of the security fence against the backdrop of both Arab and Jewish opposition to the project; and contending with the Hamas takeover of the Palestinian Authority.“
“The officer’s conflation of Israeli and Palestinian opponents of the security fence around Gush Etzion echoes the statements made by OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh after the violent clashes between police and civilians at Amona two weeks ago. There Naveh drew parallels between the Jewish protesters and Palestinian terrorists who fight IDF forces in Palestinian cities. Both officers’ statements expose a deep confusion about the role of the IDF.”
“Last week, a US Army commander, who observed the events in Amona from afar, shared with me his deep concern for the future of the IDF. In his words, ‘The Israeli army will not be able to survive as an effective fighting force if it continues to place itself in the middle of the mainstream political debate in Israel. It cannot survive if it allows itself to confuse the Israeli public with Israel’s enemies.’“
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