‘Israeli’ Ground Forces Unprepared for Next War

By Staff, Agencies

Manpower issues, cutbacks and low motivation to serve are just a few of the issues plaguing the Zionist military's Ground Force in general and particularly the Armored Corps.

As the possibility of a multi-front military conflict grows, ‘Israeli’ military officers warned Monday that the Ground Forces are ill-prepared for battle.

Since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the Zionist military has made a calculated choice to reduce the deployment of its Ground Forces, favoring the ‘Israeli’ Air Force instead, mostly with the aim of minimizing casualties, ‘Israel’ Hayom reported.

When ‘Israeli’ military chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi took office in 2019, he set out to improve the Ground Forces' operational capabilities, but with only a few months left on his term, senior officers warn that the reality on the ground is far different from the vision he introduced.

Kochavi has promoted the formation of various commands in the ‘Israeli’ military, with operational needs at times taking a back seat to the needs of the headquarters running them. This may have resulted in the introduction of innovative combat abilities, but it has also fostered frustration, as some commanders said they feel military brass and the political echelon have little faith in their abilities.

These allegations grew following the decision not to deploy any ground troops during Operation al-Quds Sword in the war on Gaza in May 2021. Senior military officers, however, argued that ground maneuvers must always be the last resort. They also conceded that the July 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon would require such deployment to ensure the ‘Israeli’ military ‘has the upper hand’ vis-à-vis Hezbollah.

Ground Forces officers also cautioned that the Armored Corps, which shoulders the bulk of ground maneuvers, has been eroded to the point where its operational capabilities have been jeopardized.

Compounding the situation further is the fact that the ‘Israeli’ military has shuttered several Armored Corps brigades – in regular service and in the reserves – over the past few decades. This decision stemmed from various considerations, primarily the shift in the nature of the modern battlefield but as a result, the number of tanks the ‘Israeli’ military had in 2022 has diminished. In fact, the corps now has only three armored brigades in regular service, one training brigade that joins the fighting forces in wartime, and only a handful of reserves brigades – all of which suffer from chronic personnel shortages.

All this could prove to be a major issue in the next large-scale war: The ‘Israeli’ military combat doctrine requires the integration of the various corps, and in wartime, units are organized into combined teams of infantry, armor, engineering etc. This means that if the ‘Israeli’ military’s armored brigades are ill-prepared for the war, the military's maneuverability as a whole would face a challenge, to say the least.

Moreover, Zionist officers told ‘Israel’ Hayom that in many cases, General Staff officers visiting units on the ground are not given a true assessment as to the troops' manpower status and operational readiness.