Top IOF Official: «Israeli» Army Not Ready for War with Hezbollah

Local Editor

“Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] Ombudsman General Yitzhak Brick has once again warned that the IOF is unprepared for the challenges it faces. Brik spoke Wednesday before the Knesset Oversight Committee, telling “Israeli” MKs that he was concerned that the “Israeli” entity may “repeat the catastrophe we had before the ‘Yom Kippur War’. The situation is serious enough that we need an external investigative committee, such as the Winograd Committee” which investigated the IOF’s level of preparedness during the Second Lebanon War.

According to many historians, the heads of the IOF claimed before the “Yom Kippur War” that they were ready for every eventuality, and that it was unlikely that Syria or Egypt would attack the entity, as they realized that the IOF had superior firepower and manpower.

Brick told the committee that the claims by IOF leaders today echo those claims – but as an army insider, he knew that the army was not ready to meet major challenges by Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran. “We are facing a catastrophe akin to that before the ‘Yom Kippur War’, and I don’t want a repeat of that,” Brik said.

Brick has been a longtime critic of top IOF brass. In November, Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkott said after a joint exercise between ground soldiers and the Air Force that the IOF is in as good shape as it has ever been. Commenting on the exercises, Eisenkott’s aide, Colonel Kobi Heller, said that “soldiers and officers exhibited a high degree of professionalism and this exercise proves that they are prepared for any scenario.”

In response, Brick said in a series of messages to members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and War Committee that “all of the things you have been relying upon in terms of the country’s ‘defense’ based on your conversations with top officials will not give you the real picture”.

He added, “Many of you don’t understand the situation. Many officers base their comments on inaccurate information, and those who know the truth are afraid to speak. All the slide shows that the army shows you cannot explain the seriousness of the gaps in the way it is run – with the lack of discipline, the failure to carry out orders, the lack of following up on operations, the organizational issues, and other problems”.

Commenting on Wednesday’s session, Committee chairperson MK Shelly Yechimovich said that although many people in the army were critical of Brick’s stance – with good reason – “I see no reason to silence the critical voices, especially when they come from the establishment itself and from a man with deep knowledge and vast experience, who is thinking only of the good of the country. Criticism and alternative views are the lifeblood of a functioning system. We have on occasion quieted those critics, and paid a price for it.”

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team