Hirsch recently published an English-language book called Defensive Shield. After the war, he resigned from the army.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANUpdated: JUNE 30, 2016 11:48Gal Hirsch(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
The IDF top brass failed to realize that a war had erupted with Hezbollah, according to Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, and they tried to stop him and his division from waging one.At the outbreak of hostilities with Hezbollah in July 2006, when the terrorist group kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a widespread attack, Hirsch was commander of Galilee Division 91, the primary IDF division which fought in the Second Lebanon War.Throughout a month of conflict and in the decade since, the commander found himself the object of unprecedented criticism in the media. He sat recently with The Jerusalem Post for an exclusive interview, during which he used the war’s anniversary as an opportunity to set the record straight, to correct history, and to hit back at his adversaries.Hirsch is particularly critical of former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz. “People from the staff of Halutz and journalists who work for them, who shape minds and opinion and need a scapegoat,” sought to assassinate his character, he said.“During the battles people were stabbing me in the back. I was fighting in Lebanon and along the border, and I knew people were throwing dirt in the media... the Internet was full of criticism, fairy tales about my functioning, and many attempts to remove me during the war.”Hirsch recently published an English-language book called Defensive Shield. After the war, he resigned from the army.The general, who went on to found a company, returned in 2012 to serve in the reserves as deputy commander of Depth Corps, which oversees combined special operations. He warns that the public must be prepared for a third Lebanon war, and that Syria has become a tinderbox, with extremist groups now having a direct access to the border due to the chaos there.The exclusive interview will appear this Friday in the Magazine.