Former IDF deputy chief of staff Maj.-Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan spoke recently with Prof. Aryeh Eldad and Ron Koffman on Radio 103FM and referred to reports about an internal IDF document published in August 2021, which describes the defense system in the Gaza border area in detail and even the prevailing mindset in the Israeli military system over the past few years.
"I read the reports very thoroughly, it's an excellent article by the way, but I didn't read the document. I know the people and I know the issue. For example, I met with [former IDF chief of staff Aviv] Kohavi when he was the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence, I told him, 'You have hundreds of cyber combat soldiers in intelligence so you must know that there is cyberwarfare, but there is no such thing as cyber soldiers.' Whoever fights must be a real combat soldier, the one who pulls the trigger... You can gather intelligence, but cyber intelligence will not defeat terrorism under any circumstances," Dayan said.
"Kohavi then told me how much it would help, for example, to locate the rockets, The IDF can find every rocket and know where it was fired from, and how much we can hit the Hamas leaders. I told him that it simply wouldn't happen and that he should wait for the next time he entered Gaza.
"To this day they shoot rockets buried in the ground. I also told him that the intelligence unit is developing beautiful things from a technological point of view, but commanders should be taught that they must not become dependent on that kind of success. You have to remember, both Kohavi and Herzi Halevi were the heads of intelligence. In my opinion, they exaggerated their success."
Israel needs more physical security for war success, less cyber intervention
Regarding a recent terrorist attack, Dayan commented, "What needs to be done has little to do with technology and more with security matters. First of all, there is too much space there for one brigade; the Dead Sea to the Syrian border is too much for one brigade. The reliance on intelligence and technology is a good thing for our small and sophisticated army under certain conditions, but certainly not in the war on terrorism. Following the terrorist attack, what is needed is more physical security and the security fence needs to be improved because it has not been supervised for many years. On the technological side, we need to provide more drones."
Dayan concluded, "The State of Israel needs to exercise its sovereignty, but first of all it needs to double the population. As soon as there are twice as many settlers and many more settlements, we will control the territory. I am not saying that for every terrorist attack we should establish a settlement, but with 7,000 settlers and one brigade, we do not control our entire eastern border. This is exactly the time to double the population. There isn't a single hotel in the Jordan Valley, there isn't a single visitor center, so it's simply a place that we need to settle."
Shani Romano/103FM contributed to this report