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Israeli preparedness
These articles address something that seems to me to be worth paying attention to. It may or may not be that important. But it looks to me like the sort of thing that might look different at some point when we know more of the facts surrounding Israel's current military actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
I suppose any war, even a very successful one, is likely to bring out some criticisms of lack of preparedness by the Army and/or the government. These three are about Hamas and Hizbollah attempts to capture Israeli soldiers.
From Hizbullah aims to shift power balance: Israel, Hizbullah both hope to gain edge in changing war by Nicholas Blanford Christian Science Monitor 07/17/06
Hizbullah had made it known for months that it was interested in kidnapping Israeli soldiers to exchange for prisoners. It even launched a well-planned assault on an Israeli position last November with the intention of snatching soldiers. The bid failed, however.
Although a fresh kidnapping was bound to incur a massive response from Israel and the wrath of non-Shiite Lebanese, analysts believe that Hizbullah and its Iranian patron calculated that the Shiite group would prevail.
"Quite frankly, they don't care" about the views of non-Shiite Lebanese, says Saad-Ghorayeb, as long as they have the support of their own constituency.
In June, the Israeli government became embroiled in the Gaza kidnap crisis, and for Hizbullah and its allies it appeared an opportune moment to strike again, opening a new front and placing additional pressure on Mr. Olmert.
Israel's response has knocked out roads, bridges, and power stations, and left more than 100 people dead in the airstrikes. With Israel telling residents of south Lebanon to leave their homes, a senior UN officer in the south says that much of the district had become "a free-fire zone."
"This is a pure intimidation campaign," says Timur Goksel, professor and former UN officer in south Lebanon. "If these hardships continue, people will begin to support Hizbullah against Israel again."
From IDF arrested 2 Palestinians last month over plan to abduct soldiers by Amos Harel Ha'aretz 07/13/06
Security forces arrested two Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in mid-June who attempted to infiltrate Israel in order to carry out a kidnapping attack, a gag order lifted on Thursday revealed.
Hamas activists Mohammed Bahahssa and Abad al-Jawad Aby Sanima, from the southern border town of Rafah, were arrested on June 18. They had been given orders by Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers or civilians, to press for a prisoner exchange.
From Caught with its pants down by Yoel Marcus Ha'aretz 07/12/06:
Our illustrious army, one of the most advanced in the world, with its nuclear option, its fighter planes that can fly to Tehran and back, its unmanned aerial vehicles and drones and guided missiles, has been caught twice with its pants down, in scenarios that had been foreseen. Major General Giora Eiland offered a blow-by-blow description of how we fell into a Hamas trap at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Despite the lessons of the past, despite updated alerts, despite being "prepared" for tunnels being dug by terrorists and possible kidnappings, the alarm was not sounded in time.
Before we had even digested the first bungle, Hezbollah, employing a brilliant but known diversionary tactic, killed eight Israel Defense Forces soldiers and kidnapped two others. For their release, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah brags that Israel will have to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners. With three abducted soldiers in the hands of these two brother organizations, which operate under Iran's aegis, he has touched a raw nerve. For where in Israel will you find journalists or politicians who will dare to say that we must not give in to blackmail, because doing so will only lead to more kidnappings and more blackmail?
Moshe Arens used to say that you don't need military intelligence to find out things the enemy has let you know in advance. Nasrallah has said over and over again that Hezbollah was planning to seize hostages. Our generals knew that abductions posed the greatest threat to Israel, because of the myth, still clung to by the IDF, that casualties are never abandoned on the battlefield, not to mention the army's inability to stand up to parental pressure to free their dear ones, no matter what the cost.
The rocket deliveries continued on weekly flights from Iran to Damascus and Beirut, and Israel followed the movement with a near academic curiosity. In the immediate aftermath of the withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May, 2000, hundreds of Lebanese rushed to Fatma Gate, near Metula, and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers. In response, the Israel Defense Forces enclosed the soldiers in a metal cage, and then pulled the position away from the border all together in an effort to avoid friction.
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