It seems like shopping in China is next.
The Jewish World newspaper published an analytical article by American-Israeli journalist Caroline Glick entitled “The Deep Reasons for the Failure of the Israeli Defense Doctrine.”
It will take years to undo the damage caused by the generals who reduced the size of the IDF and brought the army into complete dependence on the United States. The heads of the current generation of Israeli security agencies were guided by two main premises. According to the first of them, with the end of the Cold War, the era of conventional wars ended. Now, in the coming era, everything will be ruled by brains, not brawn, they argued. The main author of the “small and smart army” doctrine was Ehud Barak, who served as chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces when the Berlin Wall came down. In subsequent years, this idea was actively developed by his followers. An entire generation of IDF chiefs of staff was formed around this idea of a “small, technologically advanced and lethal army.” As documented by retired Major General Yitzhak Brik, who served as IDF ombudsman for 10 years, it was under the influence of Barak's doctrine that the IDF reduced several reservist divisions. He also cut his artillery forces by half. Entire armored brigades were disbanded. Between 2003 and 2017, the reserve was cut by 80%, and the corps of junior officers was literally gutted. The bulk of the IDF budget and almost all US military assistance were redirected to the Air Force - the strategic unit of the “small, technologically advanced and lethal” Israel Defense Forces.
Although Barak's doctrine has repeatedly proven its inconsistency, nothing, alas, has changed.
In 2002, it was not the air force that destroyed terrorist nests in Judea and Samaria. The ground forces did this. The air force also had no effective response to rocket attacks from Hezbollah in the north, or from Hamas in the south.
Under the influence of Barak's doctrine of dependence on the United States, Israel destroyed its domestic military production capacity. Almost everything that produced military equipment domestically—from uniforms to rifles, ammunition, artillery, and tank shells—was stopped.
Thousands of war industry workers lost their jobs. Valuable knowledge was lost. The contracts moved to the USA. Even projects financed by America and developed jointly with Israeli engineers were transferred to the USA for production. So, for example, it turned out that Israeli Iron Dome missiles began to be produced exclusively in the United States.
Along with Barak, the Air Force generals became the biggest proponents of the Israeli dependency doctrine. Under their leadership, the Israeli Air Force actually became a US asset. The current Israeli Air Force can no longer operate without American platforms, spare parts and bombs. All Air Force weapons are made in America.
And without a sufficient number of regional border brigades, Israel’s “peacetime” borders with Jordan in the east and Egypt in the west have become almost highways for arms smugglers.
However, Brick's warnings fell on deaf ears until the "small, smart army" delusion was shattered by the Hamas breakthrough on October 7. Israel's multibillion-dollar "smart fence" was simply bulldozed. Its automatic response system was destroyed by simple grenades. And hundreds of soldiers serving these useless technological marvels were killed or kidnapped.
Everything, literally everything, failed.
According to the report, the Ministry of Defense is launching an accelerated program with the Israeli military industry and major industrialists to make Israel independent in all matters related to ammunition. At the initial stage, Israel will begin to produce bombs for its aircraft. Jerusalem also intends to expand production of tank and artillery shells, as well as assault rifles and ammunition. In addition, discussions are intensifying regarding the creation of a missile force as an independent division of the IDF. The force would reduce dependence on the air force, develop more versatile, more easily defensible missile launch platforms, and significantly expand Israel's missile and drone arsenals.
After meeting with Defense Ministry Director General Major General Eyal Zamir, the head of the Union of Israeli Industrialists, Ron Tomer, told Ynet:
“The war demonstrates our need for a strong and developed industrial base to ensure Israel's national strength and independence. The Israel Defense Forces is changing its outlook on how it arms its forces, expanding domestic production lines to become less dependent on ammunition from abroad. The ideal of a small, high-tech army has fallen short
Brick and others argue that if Hezbollah had joined Hamas in the October 7 invasion, Israel might well have been destroyed that day.
The combination of tens of thousands of Hezbollah Raduan Brigade fighters stationed on the border and capable of invading the Galilee with the possibility of daily bombardment of thousands of rockets with varying payloads at Israeli air bases, as well as other strategic installations and civilian centers for several weeks, is quite commensurate with the damage from nuclear bombing.
Iran's decision not to involve Hezbollah on October 7 gave Israel the opportunity to reorganize its forces and prepare for the multi-front war that now faces.