Report doubts whether Israel army is ready for future wars

A new report from the Israeli army Ombudsman Major General Yitzhak Brick has revealed dangerous findings about how prepared the Israeli army are for a future war, Quds Press reported yesterday.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the news agency reported Brick presenting “a disturbing picture of the organisational culture in the army, as well as its ability to face the current challenges”.

Brick noted that a lot of units, especially the reservists, do not take care over the maintenance of military equipment and tanks. He also found that a civil cleaning company was hired to clean military equipment after training at one of the military bases.

He also noted that the reservists, who form the majority of the Israeli military forces during wars, do not receive the right training. He revealed that there is a lack of professionals among them, as well as a lack of equipment.

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Brick also expressed concern about the declining quality of medical treatment for soldiers and criticised at length the prevalence of smartphone and WhatsApp use in combat units.

According to Brick, these are dangerous because they can reveal the movements of the military to the enemy. He also said that commanders used WhatsApp to communicate with troops despite the fact that they are very close to them, noting that this creates social distance between them.

The report revealed that more than 7,000 written complaints were filed with the Ombudsman in 2017 and another 20,300 at the commission’s call centre, noting that up to 59 per cent were found to be justified.