To counter the threat of Hamas, we need to have a strategy. Without a strategy, there will be no victory, with a well devised strategy, we will win.
Let us try to recap the current situation, and discuss the strategic advantages and disadvantages of the situation.
The current strategy of invasion and destruction of tunnels and so on is basically what you in Clausewitz terms would call a French Revolution scenario. Napoleon used fear to subdue his opponents, and he won his wars in that way.
So again, we are talking psychology, and use of fear tactics. In order for this to work, it really has to be scary, and target the most vulnerable parts of the enemy.
Are we doing that? No, we are going after specific tunnel openings and trying to find a way to infiltrate Gaza. Ok, seen from a strictly operational perspective this may make some sense, but as a strategy, it is totally stupid. Either you use fear tactics to your advantage, or you do not. Right now we are doing something in the middle. It will not work.
If we look at the past, this is EXACTLY the lesson we can learn, in the war with Hezbollah and other past wars with Hamas or the PLO, we have focused on the material game, having not the slightest clue about the psychological game, and as a very natural consequence we lost. Maybe not in the ground game, but the image or perception of Israel was dragged through the mud over and over again. So we lost the psychological game.
I have supported Israel staunchly for some time now, and consequently the victories I have had, as the initiation of the peace talks with Iran, the rise of Sisi is rightfully put at the feet of Israel. So Israel has dragged itself up from the very deep hole it has dug for itself in the conflicts with the Palestinians.
Well, you can go on digging deep holes for Israel, or you might discuss the idea of changing tactics.
So, I advised a precise hard hitting strategy that involved only the IAF and the clandestine operations. Why? Well first of all, because it will put Hamas at a serious disadvantage. They need the pictures to win the psychological war. But if they never know when or where we hit, they cannot construct all the killings of their own children.
The strategy has been used to a great efficiency by Obama for some time. The constant search for leaders of Taliban and other Islamist insurgents has really payed off.
So what are the reflections? First of all tech has always been the edge of western culture. First it was the Viking vessels, then the cannons, then the machine gun, then the flying fighter bomber.
So to use this advantage, we need to use the newest tech. The newest tech are the robots. This does not include no action by shin bet, on contrary, it should be used as a complementary to shin bet.
But the good thing about using spooks combined with high tech precision targeting, is the fact, that the media will not be feeded with pictures.
Then there is another reflection. When Alexander the Great beat Darius the Persian prince, he did it with 44 thousand grunts against 3 hundred thousand enemy fighters, or even more.
How did he do that? By using the weaknesses of the enemy against themselves. As Hamas, the Persians were a motley crue of soldiers gathered at the occasion. I was only held together through a strong dictation by the prince. This was acknowledged by Alexander, so he went for the prince, and routed him. When the prince was routed, the army fell to pieces.
The same holds true for Hamas, they are not a unified front, but held together by a strong dictation of the leadership. There are numerous factions, counter factions, different interest and so on. So if the leadership is hurt, the organization will most probably falter.
Therefor, instead of wandering around in Gaza searching for tunnel, focus on the leaders, bring them down and the victory might be ours.
When and if the leadership is downed, the tunnels and ammunition will be either sold to someone else, or can be bought by the IDF, because no one will need them anymore.
Focus, do not just follow your feelings. Fight with seal and precision, and we can turn the tide.
G-d bless the will of the Israelis.