Here are three noteworthy stories from over the weekend.
The army now has several combat teams in the northern West Bank as part of the operation, which it has dubbed Iron Wall. Cynics in the General Staff are calling it Smotrich's Wall after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The green light for the operation, which coincides with the Gaza cease-fire/hostage deal, is designed to give the far-right parties cover for remaining in the governing coalition. They can argue that the war on terror is continuing unabated, particularly in areas that greatly concern their voters. The operational need in the northern West Bank dovetails with the political need, and the army acts accordingly.
DM’s Take: Or it could be the end of the IDF allowing terror infrastructure to grow unchecked in Judea and Samaria. And as for the criticism of the rules of engagement, would the author prefer more dead soldiers that are fighting with two hands tied behind their backs?
Intelligence work is spearheaded by people with extraordinary qualities, but they are not immune to the fundamentals that are often found to underlie any disaster: self-assuredness; arrogance; dogmatism; difficulty in doubting and encouraging pluralism; as well as profound knowledge gaps with regard to the nature and logic of their objects of study.
This point is further accentuated in view of the October 7 fiasco occurring precisely half a century after that of the Yom Kippur War. In the weeks that led up to October 7, events were held to mark 50 years to the 1973 War, during which senior intelligence officers spoke of the lessons learned from the past, primarily the need for humility and caution while being blind to the fact that they themselves were symptomatic of the same disease that soon swept them up in a whirlwind no less shocking than the Yom Kippur War. One possible solution is commanders and consultants who alert to personal behavioral patterns that impact professional work.
DM’s take: We saw this happen with the issue of equipment as well. Too many people blindly claimed that “everything was fine” when in fact they knew next to nothing about protective gear. Instead of admitting that they didn’t know enough about the situation, they continued to proclaim that every soldier had what they needed and it simply a gross overstatement to say that soldiers were missing gear.
Released hostage Or Levy was barefoot for 491 days in Gaza. There are no words.