“Yedioth Ahronoth”: Oct. 7 Probe A Severe Underestimation of the Enemy

By Staff, Agencies

"Yedioth Ahronoth"'s [YA] military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai stated that "Israeli" air defenses have shown “absolute blindness, arrogance, and an underestimation of the enemy,” after the October 7 operation, carried out by the Palestinian Resistance.

In a recent op-ed, Ben-Yishai cited an investigation revealing that the “Israeli” Security Ministry in "Kirya" did not recognize where the attack was coming from, rather believing "Israel" was experiencing a multi-front operation. Therefore, most warplanes were sent to the occupied north to protect sensitive sites.

The occupied south, on the other hand, was exposed after the security officials failed to assess the situation, thereby instructing warplanes not to attack settlements and sites, he added.

Furthermore, the investigation, which includes over a thousand pages of findings, indicated that the air defenses "were at full efficiency during the first few minutes of the attack."

According to Ben-Yishai, the preceding political dispute, in which reserve pilots were involved, did not impact the Air Force's activity. “The failure stemmed from a different place,” he stated.

“The primary failure that prevented the Air Force from fully deploying its capabilities in the early hours of the attack was the flawed assessment of the threat by the Military Intelligence Directorate [Aman] and the internal security agency [Shin Bet], as well as the Air Force’s inadequate preparedness for the required state of alert,” according to Ben-Yishai.

This miscalculation, he added, was “the root of the overall failure at the political level, within the army, and across the entire security establishment in 'Israel'.”

These failures, as reported by YA, reflect “arrogance, overconfidence, and underestimation of the enemy, along with an unnecessary obsession with internal politics.”

In light of this, Ben-Yishai said that the Air Force was already working on expanding the deployment of its aircraft in border protection operations as a result of the investigation’s findings, clarifying that these measures would require additional manpower, a larger budget, and extensive resources, all of which come at a high financial cost.

As for the remaining details, they will be outlined in the “Israeli” military's investigation, set to be published in the coming weeks, and in the report of an official inquiry committee—"if one is ever established," Ben-Yishai remarked.