According to the Jerusalem Post, as the third anniversary of the October 7th attack approaches, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is once again facing scrutiny regarding pre-attack defensive lapses, coordination with Israeli police, and the increasing burden on reservists. These issues resurfaced on Thursday with the release of new investigation findings and further controversy. An investigation report released Thursday revealed that on October 7, 2023, 133 civilians, kibbutz security personnel, police officers, and soldiers were killed at Kibbutz Beeri. Eighteen soldiers died at the Perga outpost and its area of responsibility, and 25 were wounded. Two soldiers were taken to Gaza after their deaths.
The investigation concluded that the IDF failed to fulfill its mission in the fighting at the Perga outpost. Serious problems exposed by the Golani Brigade included inadequate preparation for the mission. The investigation indicated that complacency led the troops to prepare primarily for public unrest rather than armed raids. The investigation stated that the errors were so severe that some positions were not equipped with machine guns or MAG general-purpose machine guns. The report stated that the fact that the Israel Defense Forces took three years to release this investigation report reflects the severity of the failures.
The report points out that the lessons learned from the events in southern Israel before October 7th were that the IDF operated more like "a community football team without rules and procedures," exhibiting clear amateurish characteristics. The investigation concludes that there was no sufficiently effective command system to identify what was happening on the other side of the border, nor was the IDF able to promptly enter a state of war or prepare for a surprise attack.
