The Northern Command Commander, Major General Uri Gordin, and the Head of the Operations Directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk approved plans yesterday for an invasion of Lebanon and expanded war against Hezbollah.
This approval came at the same time that Amos Hochstein, special advisor to President Biden was in Beirut trying to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis on Israel’s border. With attacks escalating, the chances for a diplomatic solution are slim.
Yesterday also saw the publication of a new Hezbollah video showing footage from a surveillance drone the group sent over Haifa. The ten minute video showed detailed imagery of the Haifa Port, chemical storage sites, oil storage sites, and a shopping mall. It is not clear if the drone made it back to Lebanon or was destroyed by the IDF before it got there.
“Nasrallah boasts today about filming the ports of Haifa, operated by international companies from China and India, and threatens to attack them,” Katz said. “We are very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit. The State of Israel will pay a price on the front and home fronts, but with a strong and united nation, and the full power of the IDF, we will restore security to the residents of the north.”
Despite the assurances that Israel is ready to attack Hezbollah with a plan to wipe out the group once and for all, Israel’s slow walk into Rafah as well as the disconnect between the IDF’s Central Command and the battalion commanders on the ground are giving many pause about a potential all out war with Hezbollah. Any war with Iran’s super proxy will without a doubt be something far beyond what we are witnessing in Gaza.
Jihadists from across the Middle East are already streaming to Lebanon in order to fight Israel. Without the completion of the war in Gaza and turning it into a low flame conflict, one wonders at how the IDF plans on wiping out Hezbollah once and for all. However, waiting doesn’t seem to be an option. More time means more build up of Hezbollah and its allies.
Israel’s elite military clique including Gantz and Eisenkot, worked for years with the false assumption that big wars were in the past and Israel needed a slimmer more hi-tech army. Now, with an existential war looming to Israel’s north, Israel’s manpower shortage has become a real liability. Regardless of the negligence on how the IDF General Staff has managed the armed forces over the last decade, Israel must move forward and fight its enemies with the capabilities it has. The only question is, will the lack of competence of the upper echelon of the IDF who are politically appointed affect the coming war with Hezbollah?
If so, is there enough time to replace them?