HERZLIYA, Israel — Israel's military was under orders to avoid conflict
with Hizbullah and therefore was unprepared for the 33-day war in Lebanon, officials said.
The officials and analysts said the government decision to continue fighting
Hizbullah took the General Staff by surprise. They said the military had
not prepared for a sustained conflict with Hizbullah or any Arab
military.
"The army was not ready for war," parliamentarian Ephraim Sneh, a senior
member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said.
Addressing a conference by the Institute for Counter-Terrorism on
Monday, Sneh, a former deputy defense minister and regarded as one of the
most authoritative Israelis on defense issues, said the military cut 18
billion shekels, or $4.1 billion, since 2002. He said the slash harmed
military readiness, weapons programs, reservist training as well as supplies
required for war, Middle East Newsline reporte.
"Nobody in the political establishment protested this or even asked how
much was being cut," Sneh said.
Officials said the military's decision to reduce its combat readiness
was based on the government policy to avoid conflict with Hizbullah, which
deployed an estimated 15,000 missiles and rockets in southern Lebanon. Since
the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, they said, successive Israeli governments
refused to allow Israeli troops to fight Hizbullah in Lebanon. Instead, the
air force was used to retaliate against Hizbullah rocket, mortar and
infantry strikes.
"The reason was the prevention of a second front," Sneh said. "But there
was also the feeling that we must not return to the Lebanese swamp at any
cost."
Military commanders agreed. Brig. Gen. Ariel Heimann, a former chief
reserve officer, said the military focused on operations in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip rather than bolstered capabilities along the Lebanese border.
Heimann cited a recent meeting between Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan
Halutz, a former air force commander, and a reserve battalion deployed along
the Israeli-Lebanese border. Reserve commanders were said to have complained
of a shortage of equipment and lack of training.
"Halutz said that's the way it's supposed to be," Heimann recalled. "He
said the main fighting is in the territories [West Bank and Gaza Strip] and
that the military can save money immediately by reducing training and
equipment stockpile."
Heimann said the military suspended field exercises at the divisional
level, preferring to conduct simulations. He said infantry commanders
transferred to armored and artillery units were no longer trained for their
new posts.
"We went for technology and abandoned the soldiers," Heimann said.
Former National Security Adviser Giora Eiland, who left his post earlier
this year, said all of the services, including the air force, reduced their
war readiness. Eiland, a former military planning chief, said the General
Staff decided that the reduction of supplies and training would be less
damaging than the elimination of weapons programs.
"To reduce preparedness is a decision that could be reserved within
several months to a year," Eiland said. "But if you cut a program, it's
gone."
At the same time, Hizbullah was prepared for a sustained conflict with
Israel, speakers told the conference. They said Hizbullah intelligence
tracked military deployment in northern Israel, acquired the names and codes
of units and assessed their capabilities and weapons.
"Hizbullah knew all about the Israel Army," [Res.] Col. Shlomo Mofaz, a
consultant to the Israeli military, said. "They had quality intelligence as
well as mastered propaganda and the ability to coordinate rocket and
anti-missile strikes."
