The developments in Gaza are the proof that the Israeli intelligence services are the most over-rated on the planet. Long gone is the “Entebbe” image of a daring and all-knowing Israeli intelligence community and as more information comes in about the recent developments in Gaza one is lead to wonder how incompetent the Israelis really are.
Times Online has revealed that Hamas ‘spent months cutting through Gaza wall in secret operation’ and that the Islamist group was responsible and had been involved for months in slicing through the heavy metal wall using oxy-acetylene cutting torches. That meant that when the explosive charges were set off in 17 different locations after midnight last night the 40ft wall came tumbling down, leaving it lying like a broken concertina down the middle of no-man’s land as an estimated 350,000 Gazans flooded into Egypt. Lieutenant Abu Usama of the Palestinian National Security, said of the cutting operation: “I’ve seen this happening over the last few months. It happened in the daytime but was covered up so that nobody would see.”
This begs the question of how the Israeli security complex (for which 1 in 6 Israelis works directly or indirectly) could miss something like this being prepared for months right under its nose? Israel has total intelligence control over Gaza. With numerous listening facilities monitoring all communications in and out of Gaza, with many times of drones flying over this small piece of land, with presumably hundreds of Palestinians agents (recruited in Israeli jails) providing human intelligence (HUMINT) it is baffling to see that, yet again, the Israelis seem to have been caught off guard.
This goes way beyond the narrow intelligence collection issue though.
Even more baffling is the question of how Israeli analysts failed to predict that a blockade would built the pressure towards some type of action towards Egypt. There are plenty of sharp Israeli analysts who could have made such a prediction and my sense is that the Israeli intelligence community is suffering from the same kind of politicization which has so catastrophically crippled the US intelligence community: the ‘nay-sayers’ and other critical minds are forced out and only ass-kissing bureaucrats are left to do the job.
In a way, Gaza is “Israel’s 911”: a vivid proof of a systemic dysfunction, a manifestation of a decay and collapse of a socio-political structure wholly unable to cope with its environment. An Empire relying on the two most incompetent and ineffective intelligence communities in the world (the USA ‘s and the Israeli) cannot survive for very long, not when faced with sophisticated and highly capable foes. As the saying goes, “the fish rots from the head”.
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my sense is that the Israeli intelligence community is suffering from the same kind of politicization which has so catastrophically crippled the US intelligence community: the ‘nay-sayers’ and other critical minds are forced out and only ass-kissing bureaucrats are left to do the job.
That’s what I would guess as well VS(combined with the power blind madness and delusion of Imperial arrogance). Uri Avnery started reporting on that phenomenon happening under Sharon 2-3 years ago.
Perhaps the economic stranglehold was intended to create a new ethnic cleansing of Gaza? Israel has always maintained that the Palestians are Arabs who should leave and reside in Arab lands other than Palestine / Eretz Israel. This may be what Israel wanted. Mike Huckabee has publicly stated that this would be desirable for Israel’s security.
I wonder if Egypt will see its foreign aid allowance increased to pay for the ethnic cleansing that has been facillitated by our Israeli allies?
perhaps, but that is just not knowing the Palestinians who far from leaving Gaza have now dug in and are influencing the course of events in the West Bank.
I too have never understood the myth of Israelis being super-intelligent. Well, I suppose I DO understand it: When you are dealing with opponents as inept (let’s face it) as the Arabs have mostly been, and when you have a huge PR machine on hand, then it’s not hard to give the impression that you are much smarter than you really are.
However, if summer 2006 exposed the myth of the invincible IDF, then surely this too exposes the myths of the all-knowing Mossad, and the super-brainy Israeli political class. Of course, there are plenty of other examples of Israeli official stupidity and incompetence – the attempt on Khaled Mishael in Damascus for one, or the failure to find the French tank gunner for another – but surely even the most diehard hasbarite is going to have to do a bit of introspection now.
In other words, however you slice it, this is a HUGE propaganda blow for Israel.