Slash and squeeze

Major cutbacks in the IDF’s budget are forcing a general overhaul of the military, and the media’s trying to glean kernels of information about what that will mean for national security. As Yedioth Ahronoth writes in its report, “most of the details of the cutbacks can’t be exposed, because of censorship limitations.”

The gist of the reform is that older planes, tanks, artillery and ships will be scrapped, combat units reduced in size and the army’s administrative strategy overhauled in the next three years. Yedioth writes that the changes will “turn the IDF… into a significantly smaller military.”

Israel Hayom calls the restructuring “a reform unseen since the establishment” of the IDF. “Afterwards it will be a smaller army, differently organized and possessing a different operational outlook,” to address modern threats, it writes.

“The IDF notes that in the near future it is possible to carry out these necessary changes because as of today the IDF remains the strongest military in the Middle East and the area surrounding it is plunged in internal conflicts,” the paper writes. “This opportunity, the IDF estimates, will not take place for a long time, but for only a few years.”

Yedioth Ahronoth contends that “the far-reaching reform will especially harm the ground forces, which will be forced to be more flexible to contend with a variety of challenges while maintaining its high level of precision, despite the hard blow it’ll take.”

Haaretz focuses its attention on the news that despite the cutbacks, part of the overhaul dictates the formation of a new Golan Heights division, at a cost of NIS 200 million ($55 million). It also notes that as many as 5,000 career soldiers will be laid off as part of the scale down.

Speaking of military reform, however, Avi Shavit runs a borderline outrageous op-ed in Haaretz in which he says that Israelis approve of Egyptian Chief of Staff Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in part because they yearn for a military coup of their own.

“The Israeli yearning for Sissi is twofold. Looking out, we seek friendly dictators who will rule the hostile Arab masses surrounding us. But when we look in, many of us long for a supreme commander of our own who will limit the powers of the elected political leadership we loathe,” he writes. The Israeli political left’s dream “is to find the Israeli Sissi who will make the Israeli [Mohammed] Morsi disappear and force on the simpleton masses the enlightenment they cannot choose by themselves.”

He closes saying “anyone still hoping for a profound change in Israel must understand now that no enlightened general will rescue us and no Sissi will do the work for us,” and that change must be carried out democratically from within.

Haaretz’s Shavit also writes a lengthy Q and A with outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, who speaks of his four-plus years in DC as an extension of his military reserve duty — miluim in a suit rather than a uniform. Oren, a historian, draws favorable comparisons between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Six-Day War era predecessor Levi Eshkol, hailing the incumbent’s capacity for restraint when needed and acting to uphold Israel’s vital interests when necessary. He assesses that Netanyahu has the capacity to resort to force if appropriate against Iran, and also insists the prime minister is genuinely committed to an accommodation with the Palestinians.

Maariv publishes a report citing new IDF figures that violence in the West Bank is on the decline. According to statistics provided by GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, the past two months have seen a nearly 66% drop in fire-bombings and stone throwing incidents as compared to the previous months, when the numbers were so high there was concern of an outbreak of a Third Intifada.

“In March of this year 79 instances of Molotov cocktails thrown at Israeli cars were recorded, and in June, only 29 incidents were counted — a drop of 64%,” the paper writes. Stone throwing during the same period dropped almost 70% as well, it writes.

Citing Alon, the paper attributes the drop in violence to “intensive arrests” of Palestinians based on Shin Bet intelligence, increased military presence at hotspots for riotous activity, and cooperation with Palestinian security forces.

The paper also reports that Netanyahu would be willing to release as many as 40 Palestinian prisoners in order to restart negotiations with the Palestinian leadership. Quoting a Washington source, Maariv says “Netanyahu and American Secretary of State John Kerry are waiting for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s response, who needs to approve the number of prisoners who would be released and also an agreement by which additional prisoners (up to 104 in total) will be released at future stages after the renewal of negotiations.” The prime minister categorically denies this, though.

Yedioth Ahronoth also reports that Avigdor Liberman, in his capacity as Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair, acknowledged the existence of a second Prisoner X in Israeli prison, calling it “a very grave case.” He nonetheless asserted that Israel is ensuring the legal rights of prisoners, emphasizing that “the State of Israel respects the laws and every case is under close inspection by the legal and parliamentary system through the Foreign Affairs and Security’s subcommittees.”