Anschel Pfeffer is a journalist for Haaretz, a regional correspondent for The Economist and one of the most knowledgeable commentators on the situation in the Middle East. Below are some of his highly entertaining reactions today that will save you hours of TV time to understand what is happening in Israel. There are many topics on which we should reflect, first of all, to what extent the erosion of democratic standards even weakens the country’s defense capabilities. Below are excerpts taken with permission of the author.

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A few thoughts 24 hours after Hamas’ devastating attack on southern Israel. Everyone rightly compares it to the strategic surprise that Egypt and Syria inflicted on Israel 50 years ago during the Yom Kippur War. Israel’s failure since then has been “conceptual”.

The “Doomsday Concept” was that the Arab armies would not risk another full-scale war with Israel after a major defeat in the 6-Day War. Then the concept collapsed. This time, three concepts collapsed:

1. Hamas is focused on building its stronghold in Gaza and will not risk another war
2. Iron Dome, a massive border fence and underground anti-tunnel sensors have blocked most of Hamas’ attack routes
3. Israel can “quench” the conflict with the Palestinians with economic incentives and turn it into a secondary issue. The Palestinians are only a small problem.

All three concepts collapsed 24 hours ago. This is not just a failure of information gathering and analysis, it is a conceptual failure. In recent years, the working hypothesis has been that the dominant forces in the Hamas leadership have decided to refrain from full-scale confrontation.

Hamas also has its own concept. Hamas is convinced that taking dozens of Israeli hostages will bring Israeli society to its knees and force the government to release all Palestinian prisoners, making Hamas the main Palestinian movement to topple Fatah. This concept is currently being tested.

However, there is also a fundamental difference between the Doomsday War and the current one. Today we do not have a war for the survival of Israel, which is not facing invading armies. This means that despite a devastating Hamas offensive, Israel can strategically prepare its next move. Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government is incapable of strategic thinking.

And the opinion about Netanyahu himself: he is not a military prime minister. He did not go to fight against Hezbollah and Iran and was dragged into Gaza against his will. He distrusts the regular IDF, preferring airstrikes and special forces, skeptical of large-scale ground offensives in which the IDF might get bogged down.

Netanyahu tried to ignore Gaza during his years in office. He never made plans for its future and after each round of fighting there, he hastened to return to other, political issues. Now it will always remain for Israelis associated with this disaster that originates from Gaza. Now this is his legacy.

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And some responses from other Israeli commentators:

In the Yom Kippur War (1973), soldiers from the Bar Lev forts fought and resisted on the border. Yesterday, Hamas crossed the border unhindered on motorcycles and trucks. Israel in 1973 would never have allowed Egypt and Syria to take dozens of civilians hostage across the border, as today’s failed state has allowed.

At least one military base near Gaza appears to have been abandoned or surrendered without a fight, its troops fleeing like the Iraqi army as ISIS attacked Mosul. This is a “conceptual” failure, but also a deeper institutional failure. –Cread the whole article and comment on Contributors.ro