'Israel' hasn't 'won any war' since 1967: Former Israeli General

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 May 2024 17:22
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General Dov Tamari tells Haaretz that the Israeli army is good at combat but "Israel always loses in the fight for the accomplishment of the victory."

Israeli occupation soldiers gather near Gaza before invading the Strip on October 31, 2023. (AFP)

The Israeli occupation has not managed to win any war since 1967, a former top Israeli general said in an interview published on Thursday, as the war on Gaza nears its 8th-month mark with the Israeli army still failing to achieve any of its main objectives.

General Dov Tamari served as the commander of the paratroopers' reconnaissance unit, commander of the Sayeret Matkal, the entity's elite special operations force, and deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade.

Talking to Haaretz Israeli newspaper, he considered that "Israel .. always wins on the battlefield" but "always loses in the fight for the accomplishment of the victory." The army is good at combat "but terrible at war," he explained.

"Ever since 1967, we have not managed to win any war," he said, adding that "this is not just a problem for the military command, but is rather a diplomatic, political, and social problem."

Tamari said that "Israel's deterrence doesn't work .. certainly not against" Resistance groups as "the whole raison d'etre" of the groups' existence "is to fight."

Israeli narrative has lost

Commenting on the war on Gaza, the infamous general questioned the whole rationale behind the performance and decisions of the army, concluding that "Israel" is currently in a war of "attrition" in the Strip.

"What were they thinking in the General Staff on October 7; that we would be able to wage a long war while imposing a comprehensive siege and blockade on Gaza?"

"I don't know where this is going to lead, but it is clear to me that the Israeli narrative from Holocaust to revival, which was accepted in the world before, has lost."

On who has won the war, Tamari said, "The Palestinian/Arab/Muslim narrative is more accepted than the Israeli narrative in the world today."

Asked about where the Israeli settler community is heading under the current circumstances, the general said, "My feeling about what is happening, and about the future, is cautious pessimism."

Sounding similar concerns, Major General in the Israeli Reserve Army Yitzhak Brik on Thursday said that the current war unfolding in Gaza is a "war of attrition" and warned that its prolongation "will lead to the collapse of the army and economy in Israel."

Speaking to Israeli broadcaster Channel 13, Brik said that "the Israeli army needs immediate rehabilitation," and there is an urgent need to increase the number of ground forces.

Brik acknowledged the army's failure in defeating the Resistance, noting that the Strip "represents one [front] out of six," and the war against it "does not involve launching thousands of rockets daily (as is the case of other war scenarios with other fronts, such as Lebanon and Iran)."

Addressing the reasons that would lead to the collapse of the army and the Israeli economy in the event of the war's prolongation, Brik warned of "the absence of soldiers (to replace those currently on the ground) and the absence of workers amid the international isolation Israel has found itself in."