{"id":14687,"date":"2018-09-08T09:49:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-08T09:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=14687"},"modified":"2018-09-08T09:49:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-08T09:49:34","slug":"is-israel-prepared-for-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/is-israel-prepared-for-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Is \u00abIsrael\u00bb Prepared for War?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darko Lazar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The appearance of cracks in the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military\u2019s armor can be traced back to the 1980\u2019s with the birth of popular resistance to its invasion of Lebanon. <\/strong><\/p>\n

By 2006, its aura of invincibility was shattered as Hezbollah defeated \u2018one of the world\u2019s strongest armies\u2019 forever altering the region\u2019s geopolitical landscape.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s brave new world, scandals and stories about dysfunctionality within the ranks of the \u201cIsraeli\u201d armed forces are so commonplace that most barley make the news.<\/p>\n

But the unmasking of the army\u2019s lack of preparedness for war \u2013 by one of its own no less\u2013 is still a dagger through the heart for officials in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

So when the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military\u2019s ombudsman Yitzhak Brick published his scathing annual report in June of this year, it sent shockwaves through an establishment already accustomed to being shocked.<\/p>\n

Shortages, incompetence & a pile of trash<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brick\u2019s report, which concludes that \u201cIsrael\u201d is not prepared for any future military confrontation, also throws the spotlight on the sheer level of incompetence among \u201cIsraeli\u201d soldiers and their \u201cmediocre officers\u201d who routinely betray their position by using WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

Moreover, it points to the lack of equipment fit for operational use, the grave shortages of medical staff and doctors as well as serious manpower shortfalls especially in combat units.<\/p>\n

These revelations turned the once \u2018hero\u2019 of the \u201cIsraeli\u201d army into a pariah virtually overnight.<\/p>\n

While his findings made their way into the \u201cIsraeli\u201d Knesset for debate, Brick\u2019s fellow generals accused him of concerning himself with matters outside his jurisdiction and attempted to downplay the whole affair.<\/p>\n

Testifying to just how deeply troubled the “Israeli” military has become by Brick\u2019s remarks is a document authored this week by its Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot.<\/p>\n

In it, Eizenkot tells \u201cIsraeli\u201d cabinet ministers and members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that his army is \u201cat a high level of preparedness and readiness for war\u201d \u2013 even though no one was asking.<\/p>\n

Although Eizenkot never mentions Brick\u2019s report, the ombudsman\u2019s recent criticism has clearly struck a raw nerve within the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military establishment.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, Brick, who took part in just about every invasion launched by Tel Aviv, cannot exactly be dismissed as a traitor or as being inexperienced.<\/p>\n

He could not be punished either because his retirement is just a few short months away.<\/p>\n

But Gadi Eizenkot\u2019s troubles and those of his generals don\u2019t end there.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the publication of Brick\u2019s findings, the \u201cIsraeli\u201d portal MIGnews began circulating reactions from anonymous \u201cIsraeli\u201d officers who wholeheartedly backed the report\u2019s conclusions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is allowed to be criticized, nor is it permitted to speak openly about existing problems,\u201d the site quoted one of the Israeli brigadier commanders as saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe generals are exchanging presentations that show how everything is wonderful, which has nothing to do with the reality,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have been transformed into a pile of trash.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the highly accurate Global Firepower (GFP) ranking system, the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military is not exactly a \u201cpile of trash\u201d just yet but it is slipping in the rankings.<\/p>\n

The GFP, which provides a unique analytical display of data concerning 136 modern armies, ranks each one in accordance with their potential war-making capabilities on land, sea and in the air.<\/p>\n

Although the focus is on conventional weapons, armies known to have nuclear capabilities are automatically given a few extra points, inferring that the Israeli military is in even worse shape than the ranking suggests.<\/p>\n

In 2014, GFP ranked Israel in 11th place. This year, it is 16th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The GFP\u2019s data, although slightly different in nature than Brick\u2019s findings, also exposes the \u201cIsraeli\u201d army\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

In examining \u201cIsrael\u2019s\u201d financial health, GFP notes that Tel Aviv\u2019s whopping USD 20,000,000,000 defense budget is only eclipsed by its USD 93,020,000,000 external debt.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, \u201cIsrael\u2019s\u201d availability of natural recourses \u2013 petroleum being the lifeline of any war \u2013 would have a tough time meeting the needs of the military during a protracted conflict, given that the current consumption stands at a staggering 240,000 bbl\/dy.<\/p>\n

And then there is the sheer size of the military \u2013 170, 000 active personnel and 445,000 reservists.<\/p>\n

Experts maintain that large armies require a constant state of war in order to evolve and guarantee their superiority. Unfortunately for the \u201cIsraeli\u201d forces, running around the occupied West Bank and shooting unarmed teenagers does not exactly qualify as a fine display in exemplary warfare.<\/p>\n

No cause left to fight for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last month and just a few short weeks after the unveiling of Brick\u2019s report, Gadi Eizenkot was eager to show off his army\u2019s capabilities during massive drills simulating war with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been incredible progress in our abilities. If you look at 150 kilometers around us, you will not find a brigade or corps as strong as these,\u201d he barged to the “Jerusalem Post” at the time.<\/p>\n

The exercises, which came exactly 12 years after \u201cIsrael\u201d and Hezbollah fought their last war, only helped to fuel speculation over a possible Israeli attack.<\/p>\n

However, the drills, much like Eizenkot\u2019s rhetoric, are more likely aimed at polishing the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military\u2019s image rather than signs of an ill-prepared army gearing up for war.<\/p>\n

Of course, Tel Aviv could always resort to an attack in the hope of proving that it is still the regional superpower. But given the current state of affairs, such military adventures are sure to end in disaster.<\/p>\n

It was perhaps Hezbollah\u2019s Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who said it best.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we find through studies circulated in the \u2018Israeli\u2019 media that the real crisis in the \u2018Israeli\u2019 army comes from the human element,\u201d Sayyed Nasrallah said in a speech last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Israeli\u2019 youth prefer to go to non-combat units because they lack motivation and their sense of sacrifice is disappearing. There is no longer a cause they believe in and are ready to fight for,\u201d he added. \u201cOur strength is here in these generations of our sincere and loyal youth who are ready to sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darko Lazar The appearance of cracks in the \u201cIsraeli\u201d military\u2019s armor can be traced back to the 1980\u2019s with the birth of popular resistance to its invasion of Lebanon. By 2006, its aura of invincibility was shattered as Hezbollah defeated \u2018one of the world\u2019s strongest armies\u2019 forever altering the region\u2019s geopolitical landscape. In today\u2019s brave …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,432],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-lectures","category-supreme-leader"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14689,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14687\/revisions\/14689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}