Professor Yehezkel Dror, a member of the Winograd Commission which investigated the failures of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, claims that Israel's declaration of war on October 7 was hasty and that there were other, possibly better, ways to exert pressure on Gaza.
"There were other choices. For example, to inform in all the media outlets - and to the population of Gaza through flyers that would have been dropped from the air - that in three days there will be no water. In five more days, there will be no fuel. In another week everything will be stopped. Until all the hostages are released. A complete siege of Gaza, without involving the army yet. It's an option. I can't say if it would have worked, but I can say that if they didn't consider it, they are fools," Dror said in an interview with the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on the occasion of the release of a new book he wrote in the wake of Hamas’ murderous attack on October 7.
"And beyond that, has the IDF developed a doctrine for war in built-up urban areas? And in a destroyed urban area? I'm skeptical. In the ruins of the bombings, the enemy has an advantage - they know what everything looks like, while you are walking blind. So I don't trust that they made actual preparations for war there," he continued.
He claimed that the Shalit deal, in which Israel freed more than 1,000 terrorists in exchange for the return of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity, was wrong and gave the terrorist organizations an appetite that led to the current wave of kidnappings.
"No country that does not want to commit suicide does such a thing. Hundreds of people were released, most of them returned to be murderers of Jews. So why did Hamas kidnap us now? Because Israel created the weapon of kidnappings," stated Dror.
In his opinion, the handling of the issue of the hostages on the civilian side, similar to the protests that preceded the war, is conducted inappropriately. "The protests bothered me a lot, because there is almost no precedent for a public call for non-military service or in the reserves, and I would not have imagined that they would call for it at any point. It happened because there is no statesmanship, and people allow themselves not to ask anyone. Just as now they are behaving wildly on the issue of the hostages."
Prof. Dror estimates that a state commission of inquiry will be established after the war, but said that should be left to the day after the war. "I prefer a state committee to an investigating committee, and in any case it should happen after the war. There will be a lot of material, so maybe it should be split into a committee that will review the conduct of the war, and one that will review everything that happened before the attack by Hamas."