Major General (res.) Yair Naveh, the outgoing Deputy Chief of IDF Staff, tore into the Israeli government in an interview, blaming the ministers for leaks that assisted the enemy during Operation Protective Edge.
In the interview, to be published in Friday's Makor Rishon newspaper, Naveh said: “One problem is that ahead of time, it was leaked – let's assume that it was leaked – from the Cabinet, that there is no intention of decisively defeating Hamas. From that moment onward, you have effectively given Hamas a margin of immunity. Hamas knew it would not be dealt a knockout.”
"We knew exactly where every terrorist was,” Naveh recounted, “but we did not know how to gauge accurately what Hamas truly wants. What is its red line, what is it willing to absorb and what isn't it willing to absorb. Will it be deterred from activity in the course of the operation or not. The fact is that we reached 50 days.”
Despite the comments assessing that the IDF had strong intel about Hamas, Naveh also blasted the IDF's Intelligence Corps.
“The Intelligence Department did not understand Hamas at all. The General Staff comported itself very clumsily and heavily, with a lack of talent, vis-a-vis the Hamas tunnels,” he said, in an unusual statement from a man who himself was part of the high command until very recently.
"We do not have international legitimacy for long campaigns,” he said, “nor do we have the stock of ammunition.”
Regarding the outgoing chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Naveh said that “he brought quiet and calmness to the military. This has advantages but also some disadvantages.”
Regarding Major General Ofer Winter, who – like Naveh – is religious, and who came under attack for a pre-battle order invoking God, Naveh said: “He is a good officer but he talks too much.”