The DEBKA article below, is a mark of utter shame upon Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Defense Minister, Ehud Barak and the Israeli intelligence services.
Any child would know from the multiple reports circulating for days, even weeks, that May 15, 2011 was going to be different from all previous so-called Naqba Day rioting by the Arabs. This was going to be different because it was a planned and well co-ordinated manoeuver to put Israel further in the dock of world condemnation and embarrass it before Obama’s upcoming new outreach speech to the Muslim world. The patently false claim that the so-called Palestinians were like all the other Arab uprisings in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and elsewhere, will nevertheless force Obama to lean upon Israel and make a moral equivalence between the embattled Jewish state and the endemic Arab and Muslim violence that always exists throughout the Middle East.
Any intelligence department worth its salt would have understood that Bashir Assad, the tyrant of Syria, would be delighted to force Arabs to walk across the Syrian-Israeli border and create violence with inevitable loss of life. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that such an event would become headline news thanks to Al Jazeera, the BBC, CNN and all the alphabet US news services. They are ever gleeful to damage Israel’s image and It is obvious also that such media coverage deflects the world’s attention away from the stark brutality of Syria’s army and its massacres of Syrian citizens. The same applies to Hamas at the Gaza crossing, Hezbollah at the Lebanese-Israel border and Fatah already deep within Israel, Judea and Samaria.Similarly, how was it possible that Israeli troops were left without crystal clear orders from the highest military leadership as to how best to safeguard the borders? How is it that police were scarce and the IDF was undermanned in some of the most obvious, sensitive and strategic border areas? This is a clear dereliction of duty by the High Command and serves to embolden additional aggression by Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran and all the Arab and Muslim terror organizations. The lamentable display or Israeli weakness at each borders raises the huge specter of a government and military leadership rudderless and potentially incapable of defending the integrity and safety of the Jewish state. This is a disaster that never should have happened.
The Debka Report, even if only partially correct, is a damning indictment. The Israeli public and Jews all over the world, especially those patriots who work tirelessly in the media to protect and promote the Jewish state, deserve far, far better than this.
Victor Sharpe, Freelance writer and author of Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state.
More in store from Syria after easy breach of Israel’s Golan border
DEBKAfile Special Report May 15, 2011, 7:27 PM (GMT+02:00)
On Sunday, May 15, Israel’s enemies breached three of its borders in an operation that caught its government, army and intelligence napping. Their reaction to the massive violation of its Syrian, Lebanese and Gaza borders showed all three to be muddled and incapable of an organized, rational tactical response to a multiple security crisis. This weakness (“maximum restraint”), which was no doubted noted in Tehran, Damascus, Beirut and Ramallah, may be expected to lead to the next Syrian step to recover the Golan – not this time by thousands of civilians, but by military and terrorist forces.
debkafile’s military sources report that the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the chief of staff and his deputy, instead of dropping their routine occupations and taking charge of the crisis, preferred to make light of it. Local commanders, left to handle extreme situations developing at high speed during the day, were reluctant to assume responsibility for the weighty decisions called for.
This weakness, which was no doubted noted in Tehran, Damascus, Beirut and Ramallah, may be expected to lead to the next Syrian step to recover the Golan – not this time by thousands of civilians, but by tough military and terrorist forces.
Eleven months ago, Israeli intelligence missed the coming of the Turkish Mavi Marmara at the head of a flotilla for breaking the Gaza blockade. Israeli commandos who boarded the ship were therefore unprepared for the violence which met them.
The Israeli government and IDF did not learn from this incident. However, Syria, Hizballah, Hamas and Turkey (which is preparing a second flotilla for next month) did and have adjusted their tactics to Israel’s conspicuous shortcomings. The popular uprisings sweeping through Arab countries confirmed these anti-Israel forces in their conviction that massed civilians when wielded as a surprise weapon can achieve more than armies or individual terrorists. Crowds of civilians activated on several synchronized fronts are extremely difficult to withstand.
The coalition organizing the exceptionally violent events of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) Day Sunday, marking the founding of Israeli in 1948, first tested the water in the morning: An Israeli Arab drove his truck at high speed through a Tel Aviv thoroughfare, slamming into more than a dozen vehicles and running over pedestrians. He had killed one civilian and injured 17 over a 2-kilometer stretch of road before he was overpowered and apprehended.
When Israel’s police chiefs declined to designate the attack an act of terror and insisted it could have been a traffic accident, Damascus, Hizballah and Hamas felt they were safe in letting their master plan go forward: There was no risk of a tough Israeli response. And indeed, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later admitted that local commanders and police chiefs were directed to deal with all fronts “with maximum restraint while defending Israel’s borders and sovereignty.”
debkafile’s military sources found this contradiction in terms perplexing hours after the IDF failed to defend Israel’s borders and sovereignty against invaders.
Because of this directive, Israelis were shocked to discover at 13:30 that hundreds of Syrians, Palestinians and a Hizballah group had crossed the border and hoisted Syrian and Palestinian flags in the main square of the Israel Golan village of Majd al Shams. They had already been there for four hours and no one was stopping them crossing the border back and forth during that time. Throughout the day, only a small squad of soldiers had been left to guard this border because nothing untoward had been expected there.
It was only at 17:00 hours that tanks and reinforcements arrived.
The invaders had every reason to march around the village declaring they had recaptured the territory Syria had lost 44 years ago while attacking Israel.
By then, military spokesmen had got their act together. It was fortunate that we undermanned the Syrian border, they said, otherwise the incident would have ended with hundreds of dead. The claim that Iran was behind the massive incursion convinced no one.
The Syrian interlopers were finally driven back across the border – not by Israeli troops – but by local Druze chiefs. Israel still does not know how many left and if any remained.
It is to be regretted that the IDF did not meet its fundamental duty to defend Israel’s Golan border by bringing up large reinforcements to surround Majdal Shams, seal the Syrian border and shoot trespassers. The Syrians should not have been released but held until Damascus forced the Hamas to free the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit.
Former Shin Bet director Israel Hasson, who is today an opposition Kadima lawmaker, commented later Sunday that Israel must make it crystal clear to Damascus, Hizballah and Hamas that they will not be allowed to toss their internal problems into the Israeli court or violate Israeli sovereignty. His words fell on deaf ears, judging from the prime minister’s statement.
debkafile’s strategic sources fear that Israel will pay a heavy price for its flaccid response and misplaced “maximum restraint.” Syrian President Bashar Assad can be counted on not to miss the chance of sending over to the Golan the Syrian and Palestinian terrorist teams he has held in reserve for more than a year for the right opportunity. That opportunity is clearly now at hand.
The Majd al-Shams invasion followed by violence by masked Paletinians in Jerusalem and a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. It was synchronized with mass incursions from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. This round is not over. It will not be stopped by military restraint.
This would indeed have been a good idea, but why should G.O.I. have even waited for this particular occasion to put the screws to Syria?
Why haven’t they been leaning hard on Damascus all this time, to make Hamas disgorge Shalit ?
Many of us knew well in advance that after Oslo the IDF was turned into a tool to dismantle Jewish areas and attack Jews. It is widely circulated that the anti-riot resources are all allocated to “control” Jews while the borders are left un attended.
The “border police” roams anywhere but at the borders and that also is seen in plain daylight.
Under those conditions and considering the history of disgraces such as Peres, Barak, Livni of Lebanon II “fame” and also expert disengager, Beinish and her trotters and feckle Netanyahu, we can expect far worse to come.
We must remove that trash and fast or accept total defeat.
There are a few men in Israel who would be strong leaders, but it seems they are not heard from because of the government/media, or
should I say the media/government?
Bibi is a major disappointment. Using restraint makes the situation more dangerous. What will it take for Israel’s leaders to understand they must act ruthlessly in defense of their nation? And Bibi is considered a “hard-liner”. If he’s a hard-liner, I’d hate to see what a more passive leader would do. This is a guy who allowed Hillary to emasculate him. If he is too emasculated to defend Israel, he should step down and allow someone strong to lead.
Turkish Taffy
I fail to see how this damages Israel’s image in the eyes of anyone other than those who already despise the Jewish state. The nation’s borders were breached by massive numbers and the IDF rightfully shot at the invaders. Anyone who sees the situation other than that, obviously hates Israel to begin with. Supporters of Israel need to stop worrying about image and so does the Israeli government and start allowing the country to ruthlessly defend itself.
As to Victor Sharpe’s contention that Israeli leaders were unprepared and dismissed warnings of what was to occur, I agree with him. This is caused by Israeli political leaders obsessive concern for world opinion.