For the first time since forcefully occupying and settling in Palestine, the Israeli Offense Forces(IOF) face a steep decrease in manpower. In the occupied territories, the Palestinian Resistance escalated the rate and degree of its operations against the occupation forces in retaliation for their historically-genocidal practices, as such the IOF intensified its commando operations, which revealed major gaps and led the Israeli government to warn of a bleak future.

The fourth episode of "Window on the Israeli Army" addressed those topics in detail.

Israeli media addressed this issue earlier this month when Haaretz warned, in its editorial, that "Benjamin Netanyahu is weakening the Israeli army by extracting part of its power in favor of the settlers," as it referenced Knesset Member Ben-Gvir's plan to "remove the border guard companies from the Central Command and direct them to the Negev."

According to Haaretz, that would lead to "the return of the phenomena of the First Lebanon War [the 1982 invasion], such as refusal to serve and a lack of discipline in the Israeli army." The newspaper then concluded that under these circumstances, the dogs of the “Okets Unit” [a specialized dog unit in the Israeli occupation army] will be the only ones that “will continue to wag their tails submissively without objection.”

Lack of Motivation

Al Mayadeen's analyst for security and military affairs, Charles Abi Nader, explained what is happening within the ranks of the IOF, saying that "today, at the core of the issue is a fear of confrontation given that the level of confrontation has changed."

Abi Nader added that "this point [change in the level of confrontation] is what frightens the Israeli soldier," and noted that "we have witnessed Israeli soldiers sobbing on the battlefield, which greatly diminishes the IOF's motivation."

Furthermore, he noted that "there can be no motivation in the absence of a basic military doctrine based on the idea of ​​righteousness and justice, which does not exist in the Israeli doctrine. Therefore, you see this decline and this collapse despite their capabilities and funds."

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Additionally, Abi Nader argued that "the IOF has always conducted special military operations in the form of aggression and never in defense of main military positions." This, according to the analyst comes to shows how the absence of "defense" operations, which is natural in an occupation, also played a major role in diminishing the IOF's motivation for confrontation.

As such Abi Nader noted that "we can notice that despite clear advancements in their capabilities, in terms of motivation, competence, and the fighting doctrine [the IOF] have greatly diverged from their [expected] results."

Lack of aerial superiority

In the context of his speech, the Al Mayadeen analyst for security and military affairs said, "The Israeli army is known for its aerial capabilities. From a technical point of view, the bombers it possesses are developing, and all of its bombers are of the fifth generation."

Abi Nader added, "At the core of the fight is the pilot who has the motivation." Previously, the resistance "had no air defense capabilities, today, however, Israeli planes are at risk of being targeted with the opponent's advanced, and available, missiles."

He continued, "The Israeli army has lost its strategic upper hand, which is air supremacy, so it no longer has air supremacy which had previously been definitive in all its battles."

Lack of manpower

On the topic of diminishing manpower, Abi Nader said that "this crisis is the most difficult, because the tasks are increasing and multiplying, and the number of soldiers assigned to carry out these tasks is declining."

He pointed out that "there are multiple reasons for this, in addition to corruption. The most important point is the increasing capabilities of the resistance axis in general, and in particular the Palestinian resistance."

Abi Nader argued that there were two main areas that demotivated the IOF. Primarily, he said, "in the past, 'Israel' needed, in the Gaza strip, a specific number [of soldiers] or a specific battalion. Today, it requires double that number, the presence of weapons and missiles, and the presence of a greater number of air defense systems to contain Palestinian Resistance missiles."

As for the second area, "it is the West Bank, which required a great effort from the Israeli army; not only from the security services but from the entire army." He explained that the entire military institution of "Israel" involved in the West Bank, "must be alert in the presence of resistance fighters who have become more daring."

Abi Nader stressed that "the main point lies in the advancement of the Resistance's capabilities in causing damage to the army, in any confrontation; a cause which dissuades soldiers from volunteering, and leads to a crisis in personnel."

Read more: Corrupt organizational culture infiltrates Israeli occupation army