Bibi’s foot-dragging is perfectly suited for the key challenge in the year ahead, which is to do nothing grandiose
Along with an insight into Yamam commando tactics, though, average Israelis learned something less cheering: how far Israel is from asserting control over Gaza. This was not, after all, distant Uganda. The hostages were held just miles from their homes, in territory that has been swarming with IDF forces for months. Yet it took hundreds of intelligence operatives working alongside elite special forces to mount a rescue that succeeded by a hairbreadth, with open siyata d’Shmaya.
The rescue of the four hostages highlighted that not only does Hamas rule the Gaza underworld — it remains sovereign above ground too. The deaths of 11 soldiers in combat this Sunday was further confirmation that the IDF’s raid-and-retreat strategy over recent months won’t defeat the terror army.
It’s all compounding a sense that, after eight months of fighting, the army is floundering. The previous strategy of intense warfare demanded economically crippling levels of mobilization, and brought Israel to the brink of rupture with the United States over Palestinian casualties and questions of “the day after” in Gaza. And it didn’t even address Israel’s biggest threat: the assault by Hezbollah on the north.
The country desperately needs a course correction, and the outlines are broadly clear: with no long-term solution in sight for Gaza, and an all-out offensive there off the table, the “Gaza Question” should be put on the back burner.
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