Amos Gilad: Enemies ‘rub eyes in disbelief,’ wonder if Israel wants to die by suicide

A former senior military and Defense Ministry official said Sunday that Israel’s enemies are “rubbing their eyes in disbelief,” and wondering if the country has “decided to die by suicide,” given the self-inflicted damage the government’s judicial overhaul plan is causing to Israel’s security deterrence.

In an op-ed published on the Channel 12 news site, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, said the wave of rocket and terror attacks that Israel faced in recent days from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, was directly linked to the contentious legal reform efforts.

The plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition have sparked mass demonstrations, amid intense public criticism, a rising wave of objections by top public figures including the president, jurists, and business leaders, and, crucially, threats by members of the military to skip training or service in protest.

“The background to the severe attacks from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the terror attacks in the West Bank is rooted in the weakening of Israel’s deterrence,” Gilad wrote. “Even though Israel is at the height of its military, diplomatic, economic and strategic power, the perception of its power has diminished since the announcement of the regime change by the government.”

Recent days have seen rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria, to which Israel has responded with airstrikes and artillery fire. The country has also been grappling with sky-high tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and a wave of terror attacks that claimed the lives of three people over the weekend.

“This professional judgment stems from the fact that our main enemies, with Iran and Hezbollah at the head, had previously been impressed by Israel’s overall strength,” said Gilad who served as the head of the Defense Ministry’s powerful Political-Military Affairs Bureau from 2003 to 2017, including several years when Netanyahu was prime minister.

“The regime coup has caused the emergence of a deep schism and bitter protests, economic weakening, and serious cracks in our strategic alliance with the United States,” Gilad said.

“All this, together with the heated atmosphere and the deterioration of relations with the Palestinians, has caused Iran and Hezbollah to rub their eyes in disbelief and wonder if perhaps Israel has decided to die by suicide or weaken itself, in complete contrast to the justifiable image of Israeli power that was projected until now, ” he added.

Gilad noted the recent nearly constant attempts to infiltrate drones into Israel’s airspace and attack Israeli targets abroad and warned “Iran and Hezbollah are likely to step up their attempts at provocation or to carry out attacks under the assumption that Israel has, for no logical reason, deliberately weakened itself.”

Gilad asked how the country could restore its deterrence and project a true image of its strength.

“There is one simple solution — end the regime coup that is increasingly changing into a strategic threat to Israel’s national security,” he said.

“If this evil plan that is about to take control of us is not halted, we will face increasing tests to our national security in general and in the military sphere in particular,” he said.

Protests against the government’s plans to shackle the country’s judiciary have entered their 14th week, with demonstrations continuing amid a violent terror wave, and even after the coalition paused the legislation late last month to allow dialogue on its highly divisive efforts.

Netanyahu’s coalition’s judicial overhaul proposals aim to weaken the court’s ability to serve as a check on parliament, as well as give the government almost absolute control over the appointment of judges.

Critics say the plans will politicize the court, remove key checks on governmental power and cause grievous harm to Israel’s democratic character. Proponents of the measures say they will rein in a judiciary that they argue has overstepped its bounds.

The attorney general has warned that the coalition’s current package of legislation would hand the government virtually unrestrained power, without providing any institutional protections for individual rights.

Before joining the Defense Ministry, Gilad served in a number of senior positions in the IDF, including head of Military Intelligence’s lauded Research Division, IDF spokesperson and as military secretary of the prime minister.