ISRAEL'S MILITARY STRUGGLES WITH RESTRAINT
TEL AVIV — Israel's military commanders have been struggling with a
15-year policy of restraint.
Several currrent and former commanders assert that Israel's restraint in
face of the growing threat from the Palestinians, Hizbullah and other
regional adversaries has resulted in a confused and demoralized officer
corps. They said Israeli officers and soldiers have been taught the futility
of winning non-conventional wars, particularly against the Palestinians.
"The Israel Defense Forces has undergone a change in principles from one
that changes the situation to one that explains the situation," [Res.] Col.
Yehuda Wegeman, a senior military adviser said.
On June 13, Wegeman told a conference at Tel Aviv University that the
military has developed a new language to explain its policy of restraint. He
cited the drafting of a doctrine that terms the current war against the
Palestinians as unwinnable.
"You have no answer [to the Palestinian threat], but you have to give an
answer because that's your job," Wegeman said. "So, you play with language."
Many field officers have echoed Wegeman's argument. They said orders
from the General Staff via the command level have been ambiguous and
contradictory, and warned officers that their decisions in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip could harm Israel's international standing.
"We are always reacting and when you react you are always dragged into
events," [Res.] Brig. Gen. Tzvika Fogel, a former chief of staff in Southern
Command, said. "Where are we heading? Let's determine clear targets."
Military sources cited several examples of ambiguous orders from the
General Staff. In November 1999, the military's Central Command distributed
a document to officers that reviewed international efforts to resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The document did not include orders for the
army.
Two years later, then-Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon told
officers that they have to "wear down terror. We are not talking about a
military victory."
In 2000, the sources said, the government issued guidelines that warned
the military against any operation that would "internationalize" the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The guidelines also banned the military from
attacks on the Palestinians or Hizbullah that could result in intervention
by neighboring Egypt and Syria.
Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisencott, the head of the military's Planning Division,
said the clearest government orders to the military was in March 2002 after
30 Israelis were killed in a Hamas suicide bombing. At that point, Israeli
leaders ordered the military to capture Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
"The strategy of wearing down terror, to beat them on points, has
failed," Eisencott said. "Since 2003, the military has begun a strategy of
conflict management -- to create the best security possible and provide a
comfortable agenda for the government. And to do this with minimum
resources."
As a result, the military has drastically reduced spending in the West
Bank. In 2003, Eisencott said, the military allocated two billion shekels
[$450 million] to maintain its presence in the area. In 2006, the military
budgeted 400 million shekels, or less than $90 million.
"In 2003, there were 100 tanks in the West Bank," an official said. "We
took them out because we did not want them to be a target."
Senior officers stressed that the military was preparing for an
indefinite war against the Palestinians. They said the military would seek
to steadily reduce its presence and assets while increasing the use of
special operations forces and aircraft.
"The next challenge is to largely decide the war against terrorism and
guerrillas from the air," Lt. Col. Itay Brun, an adviser to the chief of
staff, said.
For his part, Wegeman warned that the extension of the war with the
Palestinians would harm Israel's military and society. He envisioned a
decline in the military's commitment to Israel's security, a loss of
deterrence and a "dramatic cut in military forces."
"To tell the army that the war will take time is to cooperate with the
enemy," Wegeman said. "The military must end the war as fast as possible."
