The women soldiers who warned of a pending Hamas attack – and were Ignored
JVL Introduction
A devastating report published in Haaretz reveals a catalogue of incompetence, arrogance and male chauvinism that cost hundred of lives.
It looks as simple – and as grotesque – as that.
In the IDF trained “spotters” stare at video screens for hours on end, studying surveillance cameras for untoward activities. Only women perform this role.
In the period leading up to October 7 they submitted many reports detailing unusual movements across the border.
“These included reports about Hamas’ preparations near the border fence, its drone activity in recent months, its efforts to knock out cameras, the extensive use of vans and motorcycles, and even rehearsals for the shelling of tanks.”
They were ignored.
We all know the result.
This article was originally published by Haaretz on Mon 20 Nov 2023. Read the original here.
The women soldiers who warned of a pending Hamas attack – and were Ignored
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I read on social media that Egypt also warned ‘something big’ was being planned and was being ignored.
Is it not credible that senior IDF officers and/or Israeli govt welcomed the Oct 7th insurgency by Hamas because it gave them carte blanche cover to carry out genocide of the Palestinians – committing war crimes throughout the period.
As for wiping out Hamas, I would have thought what is happening in Gaza will prove to be the biggest recruiting mechanism for Hamas. In addition I would have thought that Blowback is likely especially in nations that are not objecting in the strongest terms where Palestinians, Muslims and others who have lost extended families in the most cruel sadistic circumstances will be radicalised.
What an incredible account. I bet that is going down well among the Israelis!
Was there a loose plan to allow an attack in order to pulverise once and for all?.Or just gross incompetence from the hlerarchy.?
I believe the Egyptian Intelligence warning was ignored because Netanyahu wanted a pretext to clear out northern Gaza, the site of the mouth of the long-planned Ben Gurian Canal.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gurion_Canal_Project
Of course Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence knew a big attack was being planned by Hamas, and probably knew months and months before it happened. I haven’t been able to determine when Egypt first warned Israel that Something Big was about to happen, but in this Times of Israel article on Oct 9th headlined ‘Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored repeated warnings of ‘something big’’, it says the following:
In one of the said warnings, Egypt’s Intelligence Minister General Abbas Kamel personally called Netanyahu only 10 days before the massive attack that Gazans were likely to do “something unusual, a terrible operation,” according to the Ynet news site.
Unnamed Egyptian officials told the site they were shocked by Netanyahu’s indifference to the news and said the premier told the minister the military was “submerged” in troubles in the West Bank.Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored repeated warnings of ‘something big’.
I think we can safely assume that the initial warning was probably several weeks or more before Egypt’s Intelligence Minister General Abbas Kamel personally called Netanyahu, ten days, as it transpired, before the attack took place. And Abbas Kamel obviously called Netanyahu personally because Egyptian intelligence realised that Israel hadn’t taken any measures to counter such an attack before it happens since first warning Israel.
And as if the leader(s) of a country would just ignore such a warning from another country. It’s inconceivable.
The implication of this article together with the responses above is clear, that the Israeli government was willing to sacrifice Israeli lives in pursuit of its aim of initiating a genocide of the Gazans. It is so hard to believe that: it just cannot be true. But then again, there is nothing about Netanyahu’s government that offers any hope that it is incapable of such a thing. Who now can state with any real conviction what constitute the central moral and ethical values of the Israeli State? Its government seems to have lost sight of these completely, and has reduced itself to a state of irrational emotionalism disguised as rationality. Israel is in existential crisis now, not because of the actions of its enemies as Israel has always told us, but because there seems to be no way of stopping the rot which is now spreading through its government like woodworm. Israel is as much of a threat to itself as is Hamas or any other of its opponents.
Dong nothing also leaves a trace. But Netanyahu is relying on draconian censorship within Israel and a compliant media outside it to smother public knowledge and disquiet. For the moment the omerta seems to be holding, at least so far as traditional media is concerned. But social media is awash with contradictory reports. These too are being denied. When Lowkey was interviewed by wily propagandist Piers Morgan he spoke of verified reports of Israels being killed by the Israeli forces by way of indiscriminate shelling from above and tanks on the ground. Morgan outrageously mischaracterised these observations as denying the Hamas attacks ever happened. For all his boasting about his credentials as an impartial journalist of high principle he didn’t want to know what really happened on October 7. Of course he has heard these reports too, but his brief is to give pro-Palestinian voices a hearing and then rubbish them by insisting on Israel’s mendacious case for self-defense after an unspeakable atrocity, the details of which have been presented by the Israeli propaganda machine and must therefore be treated as holy writ.
Of course much of the truth will eventually be known, but not before more tens of thousands of Palestinians have been murdered and more than a million exiled to Egypt, never to return. I gave up expecting truth or justice from Israel more than a decade ago but I hadn’t thought that the world’s media, barring a few honourable exceptions, would allow its endless stream of lies to go unchallenged.
Today I read there are moves afoot to close down Haaretz for its unpatriotic reporting. Will the Israeli public consent to this? War warps people’s minds – I fear they are already consenting to much that is far worse.
This brave article tells me what I thought from the beginning, that this was orchestrated by the far right to provoke a war and that the West would give them the green light to commit genocide. I suggest these ‘Spotters’ emigrate somewhere safe pretty quickly. Can’t see them having a good time in the IDF now.
Re Haaretz, this is what Haaretz had to say about it:
‘Israel’s Communications Minister Threatens Haaretz, Suggests Penalizing Its Gaza War Coverage’
After Likud Minister Shlomo Karhi proposed financial penalties against Haaretz for what he termed ‘lying, defeatist propaganda,’ prominent journalists slam the Netanyahu government’s latest attack on the free press in Israel…..
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-11-23/ty-article/israels-communications-minister-threatens-haaretz-suggests-penalizing-its-war-coverage/0000018b-fd0c-de73-a9bb-ffefb9f10000