posted August 11, 2006 01:59 PM              

Not the way to go to war

Imagine Olmert, Peres or Baron, whose cabinet has shamelessly abandoned the home front, spending a single night in a stinking bomb shelter
Mordechai Gilat

Luckily it happened to us now and not in a few years from now. Luckily the second Lebanese war, which brings to mind the failures that characterized the Yom Kippur War, is being waged against thousands of guerilla fighters and not hundreds of thousands. Luckily, even the commentators and columnists who are close to the 'powers that be' rather than to reality, are also beginning to understand that this war caught us unprepared.

This time around, victory albums will not be prepared immediately after the war, just as the rockets cease to be fired at Israel.

When the war first broke out some of these media people, who often sound like cheerleaders, behaved as though this would be an instant war. They failed to understand that a war cannot be won from the air, that the home front is the real front this time around, and that it was wittingly abandoned. They failed to understand that Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz's impassioned speeches, often reminiscent of Kol Haraam (The Voice of Thunder) from Cairo in the 60's, were signs of distress. Not for great achievements.

A grave situation

Israel is truly embroiled in a grave situation: on the one hand it has a clever and creative army, excellent soldiers and commanders, courage in the battlefield, and an air force considered to be the best in the world. It has technological warfare that others don't have, such as the Arrow System for intercepting ballistic missiles. Its developments included the investments of billions of dollars as well as special forces that are capable of executing war plans that appear to have been taken straight out of the movies. The army, it appears, doesn't lack a thing.

On the other hand, the army's achievements so far are disappointing, even after the heavy losses incurred by Hizbullah. There's a feeling that the army has primarily based itself on the capabilities of the air force. That the ground forces have been neglected, that the intelligence forces are not at their best, and that the issue of placing the army's high command in the hands of someone whose expertise lies in the air force, calls for further examination.

There is no air force that can wipe out thousands of guerilla fighters who are dug deep into the trenches. There is no artillery barrage that can silence the Katyusha rockets fired from thousands of hiding places.

Abandonment of the home front

However, the major problem in this war is the abandonment of the home front. It's true, Shimon Peres, who once again popped over to his homeland to visit us, no longer belittles the citizens of Sderot who are afraid of the Qassam rockets. He no longer spurts expressions such as "Qassams Shmasams." However, the home front has been abandoned, abandoned, abandoned – add this word to every line – because the cabinet embarked on this war without preparing it. This, however, doesn't really interest the man on the street.

In January of this year, Olmert was appointed Ariel Sharon's acting prime minister, and he should have examined the preparedness of the home front before leading it to war. Every prime minister is obliged to abide by these basics, even during peacetime.

However, Olmert chose to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and his cabinet, and did not prepare a plan outlining the evacuation of children, the sick and the elderly to a safe haven. It didn't examine the condition of the bomb shelters in the north, didn't prepare a plan for supplying food staples to those who have been rotting in the bomb shelters for a month, nor did it set up a situation room to provide assistance to thousands of people without adequate means. Nada.

The great blunder

If a great blunder has been committed in this war, this is it. If there are still members of the cabinet who have failed to understand this, then let them spend a few days at one of the bomb shelters in Kiriyat Shmona, Nahariya or Safed, let them experience first hand the terrible stench, let them see the elderly and the hungry for themselves. Let them suffocate from the heat along with their neighbors and children.

Let's see if Olmert can stand a single night without individual air conditioning, gourmet food and other perks that are part and parcel of his post. Let's see if Tzahi Hanegbi, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman, will spent his annual holiday there instead of going to the States. Let's see if Ronny Baron can set an example to the people of Zion, by spending a few days in such a luxurious hotel. Let's see if the elected senior citizen ministers can face the challenge along with people the same age as themselves, who are shaking in fear down in the bomb shelters.

This will not happen, because the cabinet ministers, who are terribly cynical, will not meet the proposal. They will continue sounding out their slogans and running to the media. Then they will, thanks to the media's generosity, celebrate virtual victories. The cabinet is always good at words, deeds is another story: its conduct in this war, however, is really deplorable.
(08.09.06, 09:58)