Former Mossad chief: Our army has not achieve strategic goals in past decade

Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy said the Israeli army did not achieve any strategic goals during the past decades “with the exception of the calm along the border with Syria”.

In an article publish in Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Halevy pointed out that this “achievement” is endangered in light of the collapse of the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.

The Israeli army’s approach in the past was marked by two main concepts, “taking the fight into the enemy’s court” and “decisiveness”.

Halevy said: “The balance of power in the area of confrontation does not allow for decisiveness.”

The Israeli army withdrew its troops from areas it controlled for long periods while its enemies remained in their positions, he said, denying that the calm that prevailed for some time between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza was an achievement, but instead made the “enemies” feel equal.

He stressed that maintaining the state’s borders lacks a strategic dimension because the enemy has missiles and rocket-propelled grenades and so maintaining the border will not protect any town in Israel.

Halevy called for a radical review of all concepts that Israel has worked under in recent decades and the goals it set for itself.