'Israel' is sitting on a powder keg: ex-Israeli intelligence chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
28 Jul 2023
1 Shares

Tamir Hayman says the Israeli military has been dragged into an internal battle that it cannot win.

Israeli police block anti-judicial overhaul protestors from rallying at the "Ben Gurion Airport", Al-Lyd, occupied Palestinian territories of 1948, occupied Palestine, July 11, 2023 (AFP)

The former head of the Israeli occupation force's intelligence division "Aman," Tamir Hayman, said that the Israeli occupation army has been dragged into a battle that it cannot emerge victorious from, as quoted by Israeli Channel 12.

Hayman told the Israeli broadcaster that the internal division the Israeli occupation forces are experiencing is a battle that the military cannot win, adding that the phenomenon worries him.

The former Israeli official stressed that the outcome of the proposed reforms, whether successfully implemented by the Netanyahu-led government or obstructed by the opposition, would still result in the defeat of the Israeli occupation army.

According to Hayman, if all the proposed laws are passed, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) will inevitably face a surge in non-volunteering, and a significant number of settlers opposed to Netanyahu's overhaul will be reluctant to enlist in the military. He deemed this development as the most perilous scenario for the Israeli occupation forces, considering that all military divisions heavily rely on volunteers to carry out their tasks effectively. The potential lack of volunteers would seriously jeopardize their operational readiness and capacity to fulfill their responsibilities.

The former head of Israeli military intelligence said that the repercussions of the proposed laws would reverberate across all sectors of the Israeli military. He specifically highlighted that the Israeli Special Forces, the Air Force, Cyber units, and the IOF's reserve service would all be severely impacted by these events. As a result, he warned that a weakened "army" would inevitably emerge from this situation.

In one scenario, if the legislation is indeed stopped, he envisaged a troubling situation unfolding for "Israel". Proponents of the overhaul within the military might assert that a military coup had taken place, accusing the army of being politicized and swayed by internal conflicts, weakening its status and authority.

Hayman also pointed to the growing complexity and explosiveness of the situation in the West Bank and Palestine in general, which adds to the troubles of the IOF. "We are sitting on a powder keg," he asserted, highlighting that whenever a Resistance operation unfolds, it takes center stage in the media and captures the attention of Israeli society. Yet, once the operation ends, an immediate calm settles in.

Finally, the former official warned occupation authorities against the continuous encroachment on sensitive sites such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque saying that the lack of awareness regarding the importance of these places to the Palestinian population will risk shattering the calm in these areas.

IOF prone to disintegration

As a result, the Israeli parliament's defense committee scheduled an official meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Galant next week to address concerns about the combat readiness of the IOF in the wake of widespread protests against Netanyahu's judicial reform.

The meeting aims to assess the IOF's ability to fulfill its duties effectively in both regular and emergency situations amidst the ongoing reservists' protests.

According to reports from the Galei Zahal radio, this will be the first meeting of its kind since the judicial reform crisis began earlier this year. The situation has escalated in recent weeks, with mass protests against the proposed changes to the Israeli judicial system even reaching the IOF, with reservists from numerous units expressing their discontent.

On Saturday, The Times of Israel newspaper revealed that approximately 10,000 IOF reserve soldiers have declared their refusal to voluntarily report for military duty should the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proceed with its widely opposed judicial reform. This wave of dissent has raised concerns about the potential impact on the IOF's operational readiness and effectiveness.