A Litany of IDF Screw Ups?
You can read an excellent and critical opinion piece in The Jerusalem Post today by Yehuda Avner. He recounts the disgust of a pseudonymous commander (Danny) of one of IDF’s reserve tank battalions deployed into southern Lebanon. (Extract)
Danny is angry at the last three chiefs of staff—Ehud Barak, Shaul Mofaz, and Moshe Ya'alon—for having neglected the land forces in favor of the air force, for sacrificing ground mobility on the altar of high-tech wizardry, and for squandering tank specialists in the nooks and crannies of the intifada.
Danny is angry at them for slashing the army budget by 13 percent, and for downgrading the reserves by a whopping 25 percent. To be in top form, a tank reservist needs a five-day refresher exercise each year. Most hardly got that in the course of three years, others in the space of five, and yet others none at all.
The IDF, despite its excellent reputation, is not perfect. It has made mistakes in the past. Anyone familiar with the early stages of the ’73 campaign in Sinai will recall that local IDF commanders sent their armored reserves, without support, charging into the Egyptian positions, where they were met by the deadly fire of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). I have no doubt that the Israelis will learn from their mistakes this time, just as they have in the past. Israelis can ill afford not to learn from their mistakes.
