Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday that the publication of the state comptroller’s report on the military’s performance during the 2014 Israeli offensive on Gaza would be an “earthquake,” Israeli media reported.
Bennett hailed the publication of the report, which was prepared by State Comptroller and Ombudsman Joseph Shapira, and said that it would shake the Israeli military establishment.
Speaking at the annual conference organised by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Bennett said the report includes details of the threat posed by the Palestinian cross-border tunnels and the functioning of the Israeli security cabinet during the 51-day offensive.
“It [the report] shows that the rigidity of thinking among Israel’s leaders is the root cause of the failures,” Bennett said.
Leaks about the report indicate that it criticises top Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.
“I urge the prime minister to convene the security cabinet to discuss the lessons from the operation and the necessary fixes,” Bennett said.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that top Netanyahu aides were trying to “torpedo” the report, which the newspaper called “embarrassing” to Netanyahu and his administration.
Netanyahu’s aides claim the publication of the report would undermine the principles of information security.
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