Internal Crisis Freezes Military Finance, Passes Appointments
Local Editor
While the "Israeli" public is focused on the tent protests, the "Israeli" War Forces is worriedly keeping track on the developments in the region.
"Egypt, Syria, and Palestinian State" are three titles that the "Haaretz" "Israeli" report focused on. However, Fear of Hizbullah dominated the "MESS" report.
Reminding of the unforgettable defeat in Lebanon, "Haaretz" confirms that Hizbullah's capture to two of the "Israeli" soldiers in July 2006 "not only caused "Israel" to become mired in a highly unsuccessful war with Hizbullah; but it also eliminated the most recent attempt to introduce significant structural reform in the ranks of the "IDF"."
"Dan Halutz, chief of staff during the Second Lebanon War, was forced to resign a few months after it ended. His departure brought the revolutionary changes he had planned to an end. Whatever he managed to do during his year and a half as chief of staff was rescinded for the most part by his successor, Gabi Ashkenazi," the paper emphasized.
"Ashkenazi received the equivalent of a medal of honor from the public for rehabilitating the army after the trauma of Lebanon, but the momentum of improving fitness and preparedness also served to justify huge expenditures, and further weakened the external supervision over the army. In effect, the political leadership stopped demanding that the "IDF" become more efficient, in spite of the fact that this subject was extensively discussed in the Brodet Commission report on the defense budget, published about a year after the war," the "Israeli" daily explained.
In a parallel context, the report points out "that thanks to the attention demanded by the social protest, Benny Gantz's first round of appointments as chief of staff, a week ago, passed almost unnoticed."
"The focus was on the controversial appointment of Rear Adm. (soon to be major general) Ram Rothberg as commander of the "Israeli" Navy. When an Iranian missile hit the INS Hanit, a missile boat, on the third day of the war in Lebanon, Rothberg was serving as the chief of naval intelligence. An investigation of the incident indicated that he did not heed the warning of one of the branch heads at headquarters, several hours before the attack, to the effect that the navy needed to take into account the possibility that Iran had sent surface-to-sea missiles to Hizbullah."
"The navy's main mistake in the affair was operational - in the way the missile boats were operating opposite the coast of Beirut as though they were in no danger," the report adds.
Moving to what "Israel" views as surrounding threats the report demonstrates the following points:
From the "Israeli" point of view, "Sinai is now a no-man's-land that has been thrown into total anarchy, and the authorities in Cairo don't dare to confront the three main Bedouin tribes there."
"
The "IDF" and the Shin Bet security services no longer talk in terms weapons being smuggled from Sinai to the Gaza Strip, but rather about orderly arms shipments. Hamas has begun to operate assembly lines for weapons in the heart of Sinai, figuring that they will be more secure there than in the Strip, because "Israel" will be afraid to bomb Egyptian territory," the report states.
Admitting fear from the new situation on Occupied Palestine Southern
borders, "Haaretz" clarifies that "after 30 years, during which "Israel" barely deployed units on the southern border and left operative plans related to it on the shelf, there is a need to address them again. One of the ideas likely to be considered is the establishment of a new military headquarters for that front."
Moving to Syria, the report claims that despite all signs pointing to a collapse of Assad's regime, the "Israeli" Military Intelligence is saying that "in spite of the excellent reconnaissance in the Syrian arena, it is unable to predict the precise date of the collapse" warning of the continuous Lebanese threat.
"The fact that Egypt and Syria are preoccupied with their own problems ostensibly reduces the immediate security risk to "Israel", but the instability increases uncertainty in the area, and is also liable to affect the situation in Lebanon," the report warns.
On the Palestinian Move towards a state, the paper raises the imbedded fear of the "Israeli" Intelligence:
"Although the Palestinian Authority has informed "Israel" that it intends to control the demonstrations likely to accompany a declaration of statehood at the United Nations in late September, the army is aware that nonviolent processions could quickly deteriorate into clashes at checkpoints and around the fences of the settlements. Nobody can predict how such a crisis will end."
Pointing to the effect of internal crisis on the military finance, the report clarifies that "it's no wonder that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who only two months ago spoke publicly about increasing the "defense" budget because of the upheavals in the Arab world, is now interested in freezing it.
"It's clear to all of us that we're going to get clobbered," says a member of the "Israeli" General Staff.
Uncovering that the tent protest erupted on the eve of the presentation of the "Israeli" military ambitious multi-year plan for cabinet approval, the report clarifies that the army was counting on the additional funds promised by Netanyahu, and drew up a five-year plan containing a great deal of everything: reinforcement of attack components and ground maneuvers, massive acquisition of missile-interception systems, and a large allocation of resources to intelligence and cyber warfare."
However, the military calculations were hit by the social protests on ground.
Source: "Haaretz"
While the "Israeli" public is focused on the tent protests, the "Israeli" War Forces is worriedly keeping track on the developments in the region.
"Egypt, Syria, and Palestinian State" are three titles that the "Haaretz" "Israeli" report focused on. However, Fear of Hizbullah dominated the "MESS" report.
Reminding of the unforgettable defeat in Lebanon, "Haaretz" confirms that Hizbullah's capture to two of the "Israeli" soldiers in July 2006 "not only caused "Israel" to become mired in a highly unsuccessful war with Hizbullah; but it also eliminated the most recent attempt to introduce significant structural reform in the ranks of the "IDF"."
"Dan Halutz, chief of staff during the Second Lebanon War, was forced to resign a few months after it ended. His departure brought the revolutionary changes he had planned to an end. Whatever he managed to do during his year and a half as chief of staff was rescinded for the most part by his successor, Gabi Ashkenazi," the paper emphasized.
"Ashkenazi received the equivalent of a medal of honor from the public for rehabilitating the army after the trauma of Lebanon, but the momentum of improving fitness and preparedness also served to justify huge expenditures, and further weakened the external supervision over the army. In effect, the political leadership stopped demanding that the "IDF" become more efficient, in spite of the fact that this subject was extensively discussed in the Brodet Commission report on the defense budget, published about a year after the war," the "Israeli" daily explained.
In a parallel context, the report points out "that thanks to the attention demanded by the social protest, Benny Gantz's first round of appointments as chief of staff, a week ago, passed almost unnoticed."
"The focus was on the controversial appointment of Rear Adm. (soon to be major general) Ram Rothberg as commander of the "Israeli" Navy. When an Iranian missile hit the INS Hanit, a missile boat, on the third day of the war in Lebanon, Rothberg was serving as the chief of naval intelligence. An investigation of the incident indicated that he did not heed the warning of one of the branch heads at headquarters, several hours before the attack, to the effect that the navy needed to take into account the possibility that Iran had sent surface-to-sea missiles to Hizbullah."
"The navy's main mistake in the affair was operational - in the way the missile boats were operating opposite the coast of Beirut as though they were in no danger," the report adds.
Moving to what "Israel" views as surrounding threats the report demonstrates the following points:
From the "Israeli" point of view, "Sinai is now a no-man's-land that has been thrown into total anarchy, and the authorities in Cairo don't dare to confront the three main Bedouin tribes there."
"
The "IDF" and the Shin Bet security services no longer talk in terms weapons being smuggled from Sinai to the Gaza Strip, but rather about orderly arms shipments. Hamas has begun to operate assembly lines for weapons in the heart of Sinai, figuring that they will be more secure there than in the Strip, because "Israel" will be afraid to bomb Egyptian territory," the report states.
Admitting fear from the new situation on Occupied Palestine Southern
borders, "Haaretz" clarifies that "after 30 years, during which "Israel" barely deployed units on the southern border and left operative plans related to it on the shelf, there is a need to address them again. One of the ideas likely to be considered is the establishment of a new military headquarters for that front."
Moving to Syria, the report claims that despite all signs pointing to a collapse of Assad's regime, the "Israeli" Military Intelligence is saying that "in spite of the excellent reconnaissance in the Syrian arena, it is unable to predict the precise date of the collapse" warning of the continuous Lebanese threat.
"The fact that Egypt and Syria are preoccupied with their own problems ostensibly reduces the immediate security risk to "Israel", but the instability increases uncertainty in the area, and is also liable to affect the situation in Lebanon," the report warns.
On the Palestinian Move towards a state, the paper raises the imbedded fear of the "Israeli" Intelligence:
"Although the Palestinian Authority has informed "Israel" that it intends to control the demonstrations likely to accompany a declaration of statehood at the United Nations in late September, the army is aware that nonviolent processions could quickly deteriorate into clashes at checkpoints and around the fences of the settlements. Nobody can predict how such a crisis will end."
Pointing to the effect of internal crisis on the military finance, the report clarifies that "it's no wonder that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who only two months ago spoke publicly about increasing the "defense" budget because of the upheavals in the Arab world, is now interested in freezing it.
"It's clear to all of us that we're going to get clobbered," says a member of the "Israeli" General Staff.
Uncovering that the tent protest erupted on the eve of the presentation of the "Israeli" military ambitious multi-year plan for cabinet approval, the report clarifies that the army was counting on the additional funds promised by Netanyahu, and drew up a five-year plan containing a great deal of everything: reinforcement of attack components and ground maneuvers, massive acquisition of missile-interception systems, and a large allocation of resources to intelligence and cyber warfare."
However, the military calculations were hit by the social protests on ground.
Source: "Haaretz"
