After the war on Gaza: The war between the Israeli military intelligence and Shin Bet

After Israel’s war on Gaza ended, another war began between the Israeli military intelligence and the Shin Bet regarding the warnings before the war, which was considered a “military campaign” named “Operation Protective Edge”.

A report written by Yossi Yehoshua, published in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, indicates that the Shin Bet claims that since the beginning of the year it believed Hamas was interested in being involved in a war, while military intelligence claims that were no such indications.

A senior officer in the military intelligence said yesterday that the allegation that the Shin Bet warned of a war in July is a fabricated story that has no basis.

Military Intelligence, headed by Aviv Kochavi who ends his duties next week, said that senior Hamas leaders were not involved in the war, and that they were dragged into it. The senior officer confirmed that this is correct.

However, other reports insist that Shin Bet warned about the war in advance. The newspaper quoted officials in the security services as saying: “Why did a senior officer in the Gaza Division tell reporters that the battalion was ready for war in July?”.

Officials said they are satisfied with the military intelligence’s capabilities during the war. According to a senior army officer the army had set itself three to 20 times more targets in this war than it had for previous wars.

The officer said that the army began fighting with 1,257 targets in sight, during the war a further 6,027 were added. He said that Israeli aircrafts bombed approximately 150 sites every day.

In his speech to the organisation, the officer reavealed that Israel’s military intelligence agencies cooperate with Western bodies regarding the Islamic State (ISIS) organisation. He said that if Israel obtained any information about ISIS in Syria it would pass it onto the international coalition should it be requested.

He added that the threat of ISIS must be dealt with seriously and that the estimates indicate that the organisation will not disappear soon. Saying he believes that elements of the group will try to hide and disappear before a possible attack against them.

According to army estimates, ISIS has 30,000 active fighters in Syria and Iraq which join voluntarily or under duress. It believes ISIS’ source of funding depends on 60 Iraqi oil fields which have a production capacity of up to 110 barrels per day, providing a total daily income which ranges between three to six million dollars. The organisation also controls 45 per cent of the gas reserves in Syria, but it doesn’t have the capabilities to produce gas.