Operation Cast Lead was a failure and a waste because the government repeated the same mistakes it made in the Second Lebanon War by not explaining clear objectives, according to Dr. Shmuel Gordon, a Hebrew University lecturer who specializes in the process of decision-making.
He predicted it is only a matter of time before Israel will be forced to conduct another campaign to stop attacks on Israel. However, he advised that next time, Israel must establish the objective of taking over the Philadelphi smuggling route and stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza.
“We will have to go in to Gaza because have no choice,” he told Israel National News. “We have to be prepared to take over the Philadelphi smuggling route, which can be done in one day. The objective is to stop the smuggling of arms and explosives and not to destroy Hamas,” he explained. “For each Hamas terrorist who is killed, they have 10 volunteers. They have no problem to replace their forces.” 
We have to be prepared to take over the Philadelphi smuggling route, which can be done in one day. 
He disagrees with the common view that Israel learned lessons in Lebanon because it lost relatively few soldiers in Gaza.
“What did we learn from Lebanon? In both wars, we started with a strong aerial bombardment to create a good impression instead” but left with the same situation as before, he maintains. Dr. Gordon explains that rocket attacks continue, kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains captive and Hamas retains the same demands it made before, for the opening of Gaza crossings.
Hamas achieved its two objectives of preserving its political and military organization and continuing to rule in Gaza, said the researcher, a reserve colonel in the IDF. A lecturer at Hebrew University, he has published two books, one of them recently published and covering the decision-making process in the Second Lebanon War.
Unlike strategists who have said Israel should have remained in Gaza, Dr. Gordon thinks that Israel should have stopped Operation Cast Lead two days after it began, as it should have done in the war in Lebanon.
“The Gaza war was unnecessary” because of the failure in making the right decisions," he stated. As in the war against Lebanon, the IDF “began with an aerial bombardment to make a big impression instead of determining objectives.”
He said he suggested to authorities that they halt the Cast Lead campaign after two days. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Turkey and Egypt also asked for a humanitarian ceasefire.
“We had the chance to stop, remain in Gaza and see what would happened, but we refused,” according to Dr. Gordon. “Why not take advantage of international support instead for going for a confrontation with Turkey and Egypt?” If Hamas would not have respected pleas from the international community that it cease attacking Israel, the IDF could have justifiably continued its campaign without diplomatic opposition, in his opinion.
Dr. Gordon maintains that if the Olmert administration had ordered the IDF to stop the campaign after two days, "the results of the counterterrorist operation would have been the same as today - with Shalit remaining in captivity while rocket attacks and the smuggling of weapons continue."
Instead, Israel withdrew from Gaza while depending on the Western world to stop smuggling of weapons. “The IDF is the only body that can do it,” he said in the interview. “After the army takes over the smuggling route, then it can turn over the task to an international body."
The Hebrew University researcher plans to volunteer to teach at Sapir College, adjacent to Sderot, next semester, but he admits he is concerned about the prospect of having to run to a bomb shelter before a rocket explodes 20 seconds after a siren warns of the incoming missile.
He recalled that Israel has a long history of stopping military operations only after being pressured by the international community, which in most cases acted on Israel’s behalf, in his view.
He said the 2006 Second Lebanon War was a failure, with Israel sending ground troops into Lebanon, losing more than 100 soldiers, failing to bring back kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and winning no positive results. Israel should be thankful that it was forced to end the campaign after five weeks, Dr. Gordon added.