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Hezbollah outshines Israel Army: Officials
Mohammed Mar’i | Arab News
RAMALLAH: Twenty-four senior Israeli defense officials said that Hezbollah had better intelligence information than Israel and better control of its forces during the July 2006 war against Lebanon, according to an official Israeli Army scorecard compiled recently by a top navy officer.
The Hebrew daily Ma’ariv said that during his research for the article, titled “How the Arabs are preparing for the next war,” Lt.-Col. Robi Sandman asked 24 senior Israeli Army officers to grade the army and Hezbollah in 10 categories, on a scale of 1 to 10.
While the Israeli Army enjoys superior technology, the scorecard revealed that the army performed poorly in gathering intelligence on Hezbollah, did not command its troops effectively during the month long war and lacked motivation to win.
In intelligence, Hezbollah received 7 and the Israeli Army 6; in military doctrine and strategy Hezbollah received 9 and the army 5; in technology, the army received 9 and Hezbollah 5; in training and organization, Hezbollah received 8 and the army 7, and in tactical command Hezbollah received 8 and the army 6.
The 24 officers also ruled that Hezbollah had greater motivation to win than the Israeli Army. Hezbollah received a score of 8 in the motivation category, while the army scored only 4.
In the article, which was published in Ma’arahot (the Israeli monthly journal on military issues), Sandman claims the Israeli Army is currently structured in a way that it will not be able to prevent thousands of fighters from infiltrating deep into Israel.
The report said that the article was given an award by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
The next war, he wrote, will likely include Hezbollah sending hundreds of teams comprised of four to five fighters each, armed with anti-tank missiles and sniper rifles, into the Galilee.
“We need to recognize that the army with its current structure cannot provide a response to the unbelievably well-equipped force that is rising to destroy the State of Israel,” he wrote.
These hundreds of squads will be able to rely on local Israeli-Arab infrastructure in the Galilee, Sandman wrote. He recommended that the army immediately establish small, elite reconnaissance squads capable of countering this threat.
Sandman also warned of the possibility that in a future conflict, the United States might not help Israel as it had in the past. During the 2006 war and the October 1973 War, the US sent advanced weapons and ammunition to Israel to refresh dwindling stockpiles.
Sandman warned of two main catalysts for a possible lack of support. The first was what he called the decreasing influence the Jewish community had over the US government.
“This trend will continue to get worse, due to assimilation and the fast rise of other minorities such as the Hispanics, which amount to 30 million (people) today in the US,” he wrote.
