Some reflections about Israel at war and America’s political war games
The risk that Israel’s Operation Iron Swords will morph into a broader regional conflict cannot be dismissed. However, even if the battle remains localized, and Israel achieves its goal of eradicating Hamas without spillover, there will be massive turnover at the top levels of the IDF and the various intelligence services after the last shots are fired, when blame is apportioned for the failure to heed multiple warnings of a Hamas invasion and prepare accordingly.
Would Prime Minister Netanyahu be personally implicated? There is a growing consensus that Israelis will demand a new postwar political configuration, and that even the Likud is ready to move on from Netanyahu. As a war hero, Netanyahu might even willingly step down as part of a plea bargain arrangement that ends his three corruption trials.
Pundits have scribbled Netanyahu’s political eulogy prematurely on many occasions, only to hit the delete button shortly thereafter, but my point is that even if Bibi isn’t a lame duck, he can benefit tactically by acting like one. He can prosecute the rest of the war more effectively and enforce his demand for a terror-free Gaza with an ongoing IDF presence if he makes decisions based on his experience and gut instincts rather than what’s going to win him votes. If he leads like he has nothing to lose, he will also be better able to resist the pressures from a Biden administration pandering to progressive voters to win a second term.
When describing the failure of the military, intelligence, and political echelons to take steps to prevent the Simchas Torah massacre, the Israeli media uses the term “conceptzia,” which is slang for the prevailing misconceptions that blinded the top brass. Those misconceptions center on the over-reliance on a variety of high-tech devices to patrol and secure the border and on grossly underestimating the enemy’s capabilities and will to kill.
Create a free account to keep reading.
