Israel’s ‘catastrophic’ intelligence failure has resulted in a Hamas offensive. The advanced surveillance and espionage systems in Israel make the sight of Hamas fighters navigating the streets of southern Israeli cities all the more remarkable.
Former Israeli officials are describing the extensive Hamas military assault on Israel as a “catastrophic” lapse in intelligence that will have immediate and significant political consequences.
On October 7th, Hamas fighters crossed the Gaza border and entered Israeli towns and settlements, causing casualties and taking captives, including the commander of the Israeli army’s southern region. They also launched numerous rockets into Israel, which turned out to be mere diversionary.
The extraordinary Hamas offensive was permitted due to “disarray” within the Israeli armed forces and intelligence agencies, as stated by Chuck Freilich, the former deputy national security adviser of the country.
“This is a catastrophic failure concerning Gaza,” Freilich told Politico. “It’s a failure in terms of intelligence and operational readiness. It’s evident that we were completely unprepared for this. The divisional headquarters responsible for Gaza were compromised, leading to disarray, which delayed the entire response.”
Freilich predicts that these intelligence failures will result in significant political consequences for the Israeli government. He anticipates that after the initial show of unity, there will be major political repercussions, and he doesn’t believe it will take as long as it did after the Yom Kippur War for the government to face consequences.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already faced criticism for his proposed legislation to overhaul the judiciary, which some believe has negatively impacted Israel’s military preparedness. His efforts to limit the power of Israel’s supreme court to veto Knesset legislation have encountered strong opposition, including mass protests and the refusal of some army reservists to continue their service.
Amos Yadlin, a former IDF intelligence chief, drew parallels between the events on Saturday and the “intelligence failure” of the Yom Kippur War, during which Syria and Egypt surprised the Israeli army by initiating the conflict.
Eli Marom, the former head of the Israeli navy, expressed on live television that “All of Israel is asking itself: Where is the IDF, where is the police, where is the security? … It’s a colossal failure; the hierarchies have simply failed, with vast consequences.”
Peter Beaumont of the Guardian noted that the Hamas offensive occurred despite Israel’s sophisticated technological surveillance systems and its network of human informants among Palestinians, which members of Israeli intelligence’s 8200 Unit described as nearly all-encompassing.
Unit 8200 members were instructed to target individuals facing financial or health difficulties and those vulnerable due to sexual impropriety, a process that was replicated during entry and exit interviews for Palestinians allowed to leave the coastal strip. Additionally, Israel uses advanced surveillance technology like Pegasus spyware to monitor Hamas’ communications.
Israel also maintains a vigilant watch over the Gaza border fence with regular patrols, cameras, and ground motion sensors, alongside remote-controlled mini-cannons to deter Palestinian fighters and protesters from breaching the fence.
Despite these measures, Israeli intelligence was unaware of Hamas’ preparations for the major offensive and did not detect the gathering of Hamas fighters aiming to breach the border fence.
The only possible cause of its failure is if it is deliberately directed from the office of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, in an attempt to prolong his grip on power, which is being threatened by the Judiciary that he wants to ‘reform’.
The only “failure” on Netanyahu’s part is that he underestimated the magnitude and breadth of the Hamas attack this time around.
You can compare this event to the “failure of the CIA” to stop the WTC 911 attack that heavily profited corporations involved in the War of Terror, while the boots on the ground are still suffering from PTSD with minimal to no help from their own government.
Apartheid Israel troops are no better.
