Arie Egozi Arie Egozi is a seasoned reporter in the defense industry and in military and civilian aviation. He has worked closely with the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, and written for international journals in both the aviation and defense fields.
The speeches were amazing, truly a school of state speeches, fluent and sweeping. The applause from the good Jewish Americans at the AIPAC convention was genuine and loud. So far, so good. However, there’s a very large problem behind the scene. Perhaps a twofold problem.
It’s an election year in the United States, and the US doesn’t need a war in the Middle East. Israel, on the other hand, has reached the conclusion that the sanctions barely tickle the whiskers on Ahmadinejad’s face, and that the nuclear facilities need to be attacked. So the US solved its problem with Jerusalem, but those in Jerusalem have forgotten something; It’s the Israeli home front that will suffer the Iranian response, and the home front is in no way ready for an attack.
A home front can’t really be prepared for a missile attack, but not even the smallest effort has been taken in Israel; no shelters, no NBC protective masks for the populace, no element to coordinate the activities in the areas that will be hit. In short, a typical Israeli mess. The home front has simply been abandoned, and it seems that Jerusalem’s forgotten this. There is clearly a tremendous problem here.
After the applause in Washington fades, someone will have to examine the situation, and it’s a grim one. Having just two Arrow batteries, as well as all the deficiencies listed earlier, is a recipe for a heavy blow to the home front. Not the 500 casualties (a number that Minister of Defense Ehud Barak plucked from the confidential files), not “tolerable damage” – but the paralysis of the home front, mass casualties, widespread destruction, and a joint attack from Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
Everyone will take part in the attack, but Israel is simply not ready. The Merkava Mark IV tanks and the sophisticated UAVs will not help here. Nor will the smart and precise weapons. The Israeli home front is relatively small and unprepared for a barrage of missiles and rockets. Our leaders need to remember this before they make any decisions.
The problem is not what will be said in the White House, the problem is what will happen to us here. I’m not at all certain that this is being taken into consideration in Jerusalem.
To paraphrase Bibi Netanyahu’s words in Washington: If it looks like a mess, sounds like a mess, and walks like a mess, then it’s a mess.
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