How Israel failed to anticipate Hamas: Intel trusted tech over people (csmonitor.com)
‘A $1.1 billion above-and-below-ground fence along its 40-mile border with Gaza – equipped with radar devices, cameras, surveillance sensors, and remote-controlled weaponry...'
Hamas used cheap drones and tractos to knock out the defenses, and hang gliders to sail over the wall.
'Technology is very tempting... which also relies too much on technology'
‘For strategic assessments, you need more than innovation; you need the basics of the craft, which is ‘Know your enemy.’ So if dealing with Hamas, you should learn the history of the Palestinian people, of Hamas, of Islam.’
‘... AI translation do not convey tone, context, or the emotion...’
‘It’s very easy to fire people, but once those positions are canceled you lose capability, and it takes time to build it again.’
'In 2022, a noncommissioned female officer, referred to in Israeli media reports as V, warned her military intelligence unit that Hamas had plans to execute a broad attack on southern Israel. But her assessment was dismissed. It did not mesh with the assessment made at higher levels that Hamas had been placated, in part by the millions of dollars a month it was receiving from Qatar, reportedly with Mr. Netanyahu’s encouragement.' CSM reported. If there had been a few blacksheep like V, not just one, it might have made a difference.
‘This is a difficult topic to address briefly, but the majority of those engaged in intelligence assessment simply do not truly know or understand the enemy – neither the Arab adversary nor the Iranian one. It is obvious that more individuals proficient in the enemy’s language, religion, and culture are needed.’
‘Within the intelligence community, information obtained through technology tends to be considered more valuable' but 'When you are looking at the information with incorrect lenses, the technology is not going to help.’
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