Mike is visiting Israel, and had the opportunity to get a firsthand look at how things have changed. There’s a strong sense of unity and common fate among Israelis, and especially among those in active military service. But there’s also an increasingly vocal demand to understand what went wrong--especially what went wrong with the IDF. There are many unanswered questions: the colossal failure of intelligence; the misconceptions of the enemy’s intentions; the insufficient ammunition stores; the over dependence on the U.S. military. What did the top brass discuss in a late-night conference call on the eve of the massacre? Why, if they suspected an attack was possible, did they not wake the Defense Minister and Prime Minister? Reservists returning from the front are beginning to demand answers.
Mike Doran and Gadi Taub recorded this conversation in the lobby of a hotel up in the Golan Heights, not far from the Lebanon border.
Michael Doran is Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East and a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.
Gadi Taub is an author, historian, and op-ed columnist. He is co-host of Tablet’s Israel Update podcast.
