A commission of inquiry that sought to examine the Israeli military´s preparedness for war concluded that while apparent flaws were identified, the IDF is indeed ready for an all-out conflagration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as the country’s Defense Minister, attended the meeting together with the country’s top military officials. Among others, the discussions focused on criticism that was levelled toward the organizational culture of the Israel Defense Forces, as well as “very serious problems in logistic, technological and operational systems.” That said, according to Major General in Reserve Yitzhak Brik, who presented the commission with a series of findings, “the IDF managed to deal with the flaws.” Nevertheless, General Brik warned that “In the last three years, there has been a lethal encounter between drastic, uncontrolled, and sometimes irresponsible cuts in thousands of career soldiers, and at the same time shortening the men’s (mandatory) service, which created a complete mismatch and critical gaps between the tasks and the manpower to be carried out.” At the end of the meeting, Netanyahu stressed the need to continue to study the issues, to allow for appropriate conclusions to take form. That said, the Prime Minister underscored that the IDF is ready for war, alongside the need to continue to respond to the gaps that still exist, and added that Jerusalem’s Security Concept 2030, which aims to allocate a significant increase of funds for defense purposes, will bring the IDF to greater readiness in dealing with future challenges.
