The attack on Israel by fighters from the Palestinian organization Hamas is being viewed as an intelligence failure on the part of Israel, and its full extent may take many years to fully grasp. This perspective was presented by David Ignatius, a foreign policy columnist for The Washington Post (WP), in an opinion column published on Sunday.
The recent attack by Hamas on Israel is being likened to the series of terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, primarily due to the "remarkable lack of foresight leading up to it." According to Ignatius, the most significant intelligence lapses often result from not just a dearth of information but from an inability to properly interpret it. In this case, he suggests that Israeli experts failed to grasp the cunning and competence of their adversaries. Ignatius asserts that Israeli analysts seemingly underestimated the potential for Hamas fighters to depart from the enclosed Gaza Strip using paragliders. Furthermore, Israeli authorities seemingly did not adequately assess their enemy's capacity to operate simultaneously across air, sea, and land. Israeli intelligence, Ignatius points out, also appeared to overlook the possibility that Hamas and its allies might possess undisclosed details related to the attack. The article underscores that intelligence failures can begin with unwarranted self-assurance, emphasizing that the Hamas attack represents an intelligence breakdown that could take Israel years to unravel.
Simultaneously, he pointed out that in the months leading up to the attack, "there were concerns of instability within Israel due to the judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." The columnist noted that Israeli intelligence officials expressed worries that "Netanyahu's actions were undermining the country by targeting its Supreme Court."
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: TC Perch/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS