Obsession with Iran blinded Netanyahu to Hamas threat
When the Gaza operation ends, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to justify his national defense priorities, as he relentlessly pushed the budget for funds against the Iranian nuclear threat while ignoring the tunnels Hamas was digging under Israel that threatened the residents of the south.
When the fighting in Gaza draws to a close, people will certainly demand an investigation into what already appears to be a significant intelligence, military and diplomatic fiasco, or multisystem failure, on Israel's part. It is already clear that Israel did not prepare itself against the threat of the tunnels, dug by Hamas over many years, under the villages in Israel’s south.
My colleague Ben Caspit wrote July 24 in Al-Monitor that a national commission of inquiry should be established to investigate the resounding failure of Israel’s intelligence apparatus. Was it a military failure, or did Israel know (at least in general) about Hamas’ tunnel enterprise and the dangers it posed to the lives of Israel’s southern residents?
According to defense sources, Israel had for years had access to all the indications and proof that Hamas was conducting widespread, comprehensive digging work along the border. Aircraft from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spotted digging and attempts to hide the removal of tremendous quantities of soil from the bowels of the earth in the relevant areas.
The defense establishment had more than clues and conjecture to go on. A tunnel from Gaza to Israel was unearthed in March. In October 2013, the IDF had uncovered a tunnel near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.
