Below is Dr. Aaron Lerner's translation of a Hebrew post by Chaim Ramon’s X of May 9 2024
https://x.com/ramonhaim/status/1788588051691655678
True, there are more important things going on than discussing former CEO Aviv Kochavi's [recent] speech, such as Biden's delaying arms shipments to Israel (an egregious error on Biden's part), the Rafah operation and more. But still, what the former IDF Chief of Staff said must be dealt with as well, and in detail.
Ever since October 7th, former high-ups (and also current ones) in IDF and political power echelons have been trying to rewrite history and cleanse themselves of any responsibility for the [disastrous] failure. They claim that they never supported the conception of "containing Hamas" and "isolating Hamas" or the delusion that "Hamas is deterred," when in actuality they supported these [catastrophic] beliefs wholeheartedly, and not one of them demanded that Hamas be toppled.
Yesterday, recordings of the speech the former Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi gave at a conference in the US. Kochavi's words are full of untruths and distortions and are an extreme example of how a former senior decision maker avoids taking responsibility.
Kochavi claimed that "we never promised that Hamas would be deterred for years to come, not even for the next few months.. In August 2021 we saw achange in Hamas, and we pointed out that something new is happening."
This is a baldfaced lie.
As Commander in Chief, Kochavi was at the head of those who advanced the delusion that "Hamas is deterred," also and especially after August 2021. And we are not talking only of administrative resp;onsibility for spreading the canard "Hamas is deterred" among those who make decisions affecting the public, but also in his adamant persevering in his catastrophic delusions when arguing with anyone who tried to challenge them.
In April 2022, Cochavi said that "this was the quietest year for the past 15 years," and explained that "the quiet year is the result of the extent and power of the damage Hamas and other terror groups sustained." In December 2022, a short time before he ended his term as Commander in Chief, he stated that "Hamas does not react to our attacks and does not even consider doing so" because of "a strategy whose main element is using power. Our last two IDF operations created very strong deterrence in Gaza."
Kochavi, in his speech, said that under his command, the IDF understand exactlywhat is going on, and that the tunnels are no surprise to the IDF. That is a lie. After the IDF entered Gaza, it was expremely surprised by the extent of the tunnel network Hamas had built, gigantic underground complexes about whose construction we had not the slightest idea. More than that, saying "we knew totally what was happening" is not only an attempt by Kochavi to deny the massive IDF Intelligence failure vis a vis Hamas intentions to attack Israel as well as in identifying its longterm preparations for the attack. Thsi is unmitigated chutzpah on his part.
But the peak of Kochavi's lies came when he explained why an operation to kill Sinwar was not carried out.
"I can tell you that this is why we tried to carry out an operation to kill Sinwar and Def," he said, "we tried and it's difficult. In densely populated areas, it's very difficult."
Then he said that "we worked for months to bring about an elimination operation, but we couldn't."
I will admit and confess that this lie managed to surprise me, since Kochavi literally stopped the operation to eliminate Sinwar with his body.
In September 2021, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered to prepare such an operation. After that, Bennett held a meeting every week to check the progress of the operation, and in each such meeting Kochavi explained that the IDF was not sufficiently prepared for a confrontation with Hamas, and that Sinwar was generally deterred.
After the attack in Elad in May 2022, Bennett demanded that Kochavi carry out the operation.
Kochavi strongly opposed and said the following amazing sentence to the then Prime Minister: "If you want me to advance a plan to eliminate Sinwar, you have to convince me first that it is worth the war that will start following this elimination, because I am the one who will have to explain later to the soldiers and also to the bereaved parents."
In the face of Kochavi's adamant opposition to the assassination, and the support that Defense Minister Benny Gantz gave to the Chief of Staff's position at the time, Bennett folded and the assassination did not take place.
After that, Kochavi further told his men that someone had to be the adult in charge in the room, and that the Prime Minister was profoundly childish and might have led Israel into an unnecessary war.
It would be fitting if Kochava and his ilk, instead of trying to twist history in order to avoid all responsibility, would apologize to bereaved parents and soldiers for his great responsibility for the failure, and after that, keep quiet and disappear from public view.
Dr. Aaron Lernerheads IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis, since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations