No room left for imagination
Avi Issacharoff analyzes the failure of October 7 as an unprecedented military and intelligence debacle, but emphasizes it is the result of a long-standing political conception led by Netanyahu's governments. The author points to a policy that favored Hamas rule in Gaza, the transfer of Qatari funds, and the avoidance of eliminating the organization in previous operations as factors that enabled the disaster.
Avi Issacharoff analyzes the failure of October 7 as an unprecedented military and intelligence debacle, but emphasizes it is the result of a long-standing political conception. The author points to the policy of Netanyahu's governments that sanctified Hamas rule in the Strip, preferred it over the Palestinian Authority, and allowed the transfer of Qatari funds totaling $30 million per month in suitcases of cash. Issacharoff quotes the former head of the Research Division in Military Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Amit Saar, who said in May 2023 that "the conception limited the imagination." The author argues that Israel had opportunities to eliminate Hamas in operations such as "Protective Edge" (2014) and "Guardian of the Walls" (2021), but Netanyahu preferred a ceasefire. The great fear in Israel of a military confrontation and Netanyahu's preference for Hamas led to the decision to allow Qatar to transfer $30 million in cash to Hamas each month. The security establishment supported this for a time, but during 2019 evidence began to accumulate in the IDF and Shin Bet that these funds were reaching the organization's military wing and being used to strengthen itself. Despite this alarming discovery, Netanyahu continued on his path and instructed the continued transfer of funds to Gaza. The author notes that Hamas cultivated for years the perception in Israel that it was not seeking confrontation, through operational deception focused on tunnels while preparing an invasion above ground. Issacharoff determines that the responsibility of Netanyahu and his government for the disaster is absolute, and notes that three years after October 7, Hamas rule in Gaza still survives.