BICOM

Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defence committee published a report yesterday criticising the lack of leadership from the Government to make preparations for future conflicts and provide strategic direction to the IDF.

The subcommittee on Security Perception and Strength Building focused on the IDF’s multi-year analysis of planning and strategic issues known as “Gideon”.

The committee published a 30-page version of its report, while the fully classified 54 page version was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Security Cabinet and senior defence officials.

The main criticism in the report is that the military is determining its own needs, rather than the Government demonstrating leadership and providing strategic direction to the army.

The report states that the “Prime Minister and the cabinet’s lack of engagement and skirting away from responsibility does demonstrable harm to the IDF’s ability to be prepared for the threats Israel faces. The army works from the bottom up with neither instruction nor the support of the elected officials, who consistently abstain from setting clearly defined goals and achievements for the army”.

Another prominent concern in the report is that neither the military nor political hierarchy are prepared for future conflicts.

The fact that Gideon had not been revisited as a result of Russia’s growing involvement in the Syrian conflict was a source of particular criticism. Shelach asks “what can we do, what do we want, what are our options in a war… all of the plan that need to be revisited in light of Moscow’s return to the Middle East”.

The report was also scathing of the role of the National Security Council, describing it as an “institutionally weak agency that has become irrelevant”.

However the report did praise certain elements, including the military’s increased emphasis on exercises and training for conscripts and reservists, and commendied IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot for his organisational and managerial skills.

The report recommends that the government should revisit the Gideon plan and change it if necessary, as well as starting to put together a plan to replace Gideon after 2020.

The report also highlighted the importance in a democracy of presenting the public with information about a country’s large-scale security strategy.

The IDF said in response that: “The report’s conclusions will be studied as part of the general staff’s operations. The IDF welcomes any control and oversight measures on its activity.”