Hubris is Israel’s Worst Enemy
Those who live outside Israel sometimes remark that Israelis are arrogant and think they know better.
Many years ago, a French, Jewish media chief assembled a group of five leading figures in the field to meet with the Israeli ambassador in Paris. The purpose of the meeting was to try to assist the Jewish State in presenting its case more effectively. Rather than welcoming the initiative, they were told that Israel did not need their help.
Palestinians in Gaza are depicted by the media as the innocent victims of Israeli aggression. How can that be after what happened? Even Hamas are not presented as the bad guys. Day after day the BBC and others quote casualty figures put out by the Hamas Health Ministry as though they could be relied upon. Where is the criticism of Hamas commandeering humanitarian and food convoys intended for Gaza’s citizens?
One hears little of the inhumane manner in which the hostages, including the elderly, women and children, are still being held captive by Hamas in appalling conditions in underground tunnels, nor of the way in which the terrorists, which the BBC continues to refer to as “militants”, sadistically torment their families by withholding information about them. Hamas even purposefully delayed issuing the names of those to be released in the hostage deal earlier this week in order to increase their anguish.
In spite of that, in a survey just published, 30% of Americans said that they sided with Hamas rather than Israel.
Wars today are not only fought on the battlefield, but no less importantly by influencing public opinion through the social and other media. The Palestinians are immensely successful at doing that, while Israel has failed miserably in presenting its case.
Hubris and self-assurance may be essential qualities in enabling a nation to survive and flourish when surrounded by enemies intent upon its destruction, but they can also blind one to a realistic assessment of what one is up against, and that is dangerous.
The consequences of such blindness were tragically evident on October 7. The unarmed, female soldiers, who served as look-outs along the border with Gaza, had warned their commanding officers that Palestinian terrorists were holding exercises in preparation for an attack. They were told not to draw conclusions. “You are the eyes, but we are the brains.” They were even threatened with punitive action should they continue to do so.
Military intelligence had already obtained a copy of Hamas’s plans to attack Israel back in 2018. They included taking large numbers of hostages, and conquering Sderot and settlements in the Gaza Envelope. However, their intentions were not taken seriously.
While Israel spent millions on constructing underground barricades to stop Hamas digging tunnels into our country, all it took was a bulldozer to break through the border fence allowing the terrorists and other Gazans to flood in with little opposition.
Chief-of-Staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, may have resigned, but it will take much more than a change of personnel to make Israel safer. It will require primarily a different way of looking at things. Hubris will also need to be replaced with humility.
When a CEO wants to know what is really happening in his company or factory, he doesn’t only talk to the executives and the managers, but also needs to leave his air-conditioned office and speak to those on the ground who are actually doing the work.
If those in command had listened to the look-outs and taken their observations seriously rather than being so self-assured and arrogant, then October 7th would never have happened.