DAY 243 OF THE WAR: Drone Attack Wounds 11, Iran Threat, Commission Of Inquiry, Jerusalem Day

Tel Aviv Diary, June 5, 2024

The bad news keeps coming. This evening, two attack drones struck a field in the northern town of Hurfeish, injuring 11 people, one of them critically. Despite the town’s extremely close proximity to the border, there were no sirens or warnings. As I have written before, even after observing the use of drones in Ukraine, Israel did not prepare a defense against them. There is now discussion that the Ministry of Defense is rushing to initiate a program to develop an effective defensive strategy— which should have been implemented a year ago.

There were a smaller number of other attacks today, aside from this lethal one. Expect the IAF to pound targets in Lebanon tonight and for Hezbollah to retaliate tomorrow.

GAZA

Today’s significant IDF action in Gaza occurred in the Central Camps. The Palestinians have claimed 100 casualties. However, the percentage of those who are Hamas terrorists is unknown. In Rafah, the Army is concentrating on destroying tunnels.

CLEAR AND IMMINENT THREAT?

If today’s immediate news was not bad enough, former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (currently a member of the opposition) gave an alarming interview to Army Radio this morning. In it, Lieberman stated that Iran is planning a comprehensive, all-out attack on Israel within two years, aimed at destroying the state. Lieberman said his assertion was not based on secret intelligence but rather on publicly available “open” sources. He argued that Israel must stop whatever it is currently doing and develop the capacity to deter or repulse such an attack. I have no way to fully evaluate Lieberman’s stated opinion other than to say I find it plausible. Given its plausibility, prudent risk management would suggest that we need to prepare for such a scenario. To me, that means extricating ourselves from Gaza, avoiding starting a war in Lebanon now, and dedicating the two years to rebuilding the Army and developing the technology and means to protect ourselves.

NATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

Led by entrepreneur and former MK Yizhar Shai, a group of parents who lost their children on October 7th (and during the subsequent days of the war) have sent a letter demanding that a National Commission of Inquiry be created. The Army announced that it will begin to publicize the results of its internal investigation of the events on October 7th at the beginning of next month. However, it’s clear that the Army's internal investigation is not sufficient. One of the issues is the lack of a suitable individual to investigate the Chief of Staff. According to Army procedure, the only one fitting to investigate an IDF Chief of Staff is a former Chief of Staff. Unfortunately, none of the recent Chiefs of Staff have been deemed acceptable since they could be considered partially responsible. All the other past Chiefs of Staff who are alive— starting with Ehud Barak—have been critical of the government. The Army wanted to appoint Shaul Mofaz, who had not been involved in politics for a decade, but since he once criticized Netanyahu, the government vetoed his proposed appointment.

To underscore precisely how desperately we need a National Commission of Inquiry, one only needs to listen to the statements made by two Ministers in the coalition during the last two days. Transportation Minister Miri Regev gave an interview yesterday in which she said that “people should be thankful for all the wonderful things this government has done.” Regev gave the example of all the hotel rooms the government is paying for on behalf of those who have been forced to leave their homes. Criticism of Regev was swift and severe, especially from all those whose entire family have been living in a single, small hotel room for eight months. Today, Finance Minister and Deputy Defense Minister Smotrich stated in an interview that he bears no responsibility for the events of October 7th— attributing the failure entirely to the military and intelligence services. Leaving aside the concept of shared government responsibility, Smotrich has referred to Hamas as “a strategic asset of Israel to weaken the Palestinian Authority” on more than one occasion.

Netanyahu’s Surprise Visit to Kiryat Shmona

Prime Minister Netanyahu made a lightning-fast, unexpected visit to Kiryat Shmonah. The city's mayor was only informed of the visit when it was already underway.

JERUSALEM DAY

Today is “Yom Yerushalayim,” Jerusalem Day, marking the 57th anniversary of the Six Day War. The Latin date commemorates the day the war began, and the Hebrew date this year is the date two days later when the Old City was liberated. In my youth, I celebrated Jerusalem Day, joining in the sweeping jubilation over the reunification of the holy city and that we could once again go to the Western Wall. I personally considered myself a Jerusalemite. My HS yearbook photo was an image of me standing in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem, accompanied by a portion of the famous quote by renowned author Shai Agnon from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: