Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., December 06, 2007 Kislev 26, 5768 | | Israel Time: 23:21 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File Hanukkah
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 03:56 11/09/2006
Lessons of War / IAF succeeded in Lebanon, but must prepare for tougher battles
By Ze'ev Schiff

The air force, more than the other two branches of the IDF - the ground and naval forces - was successful in most of its major operations during the war against Hezbollah.

Nonetheless, the lesson for the Israel Air Force is that it must prepare for a different war scenario, one more challenging and different from what took place in Lebanon. The last war was unusual in its fairly ideal conditions for the IAF: It faced no opposing air force; the enemy lacked surface-to-air missiles and had only a small number of anti-aircraft guns; the battle took place close to bases that were well-defended and available at all times; and the IAF had time on its side.

The IAF must prepare to confront the launching of long-range ballistic missiles from Syria and Iran, and to strike strategic targets much farther away than Lebanon. Is it prepared for this? We can cautiously say it is.
Advertisement
The great success of the air force during the war stemmed from an excellent first strike based on accurate intelligence. During this strike it destroyed a significant portion of the long-range Iranian-made missiles. The result was that Hassan Nasrallah could not carry out his threat of striking Tel Aviv. Also destroyed at the time was Hezbollah's main headquarters, in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut. If Israel had the powerful bunker-busting bombs available to the U.S. air force, it would have been able to strike at the complex of underground tunnels also.

At first the war was based solely on a major air operation, and that is too bad. Everything north of the Litani River was the responsibility of the IAF. South of the Litani was the responsibility of Northern Command in collaboration with the air force. In spite of the accusations, Israel's aim was not the destruction of Lebanon - even though the chief of staff and the air force requested permission to damage Lebanese infrastructure more extensively, which the government did not approve. Similarly, a more limited request to destroy electrical infrastructure in the south, connected to Hezbollah bunkers, was also not approved.

The pilots embarked on their missions with one thing in mind: Do not make a big mistake. In the end they did - and in the bombing of Qana, 28 civilians were killed, 14 of them children. It is still unclear whether faulty intelligence authorized a strike against a home, or whether the home was struck because Hezbollah fired rockets from a nearby location.

In addition, the air force focused on several other targets. It was a bit slow in taking action against the smuggling of rockets and launchers from Syria, and it is not clear why vehicles carrying Hezbollah fighters were allowed to move from the north to the south along the coastal road. The air force could not assassinate individuals in Lebanon the way it has in the Gaza Strip. Greater success in this respect would have greatly affected Hezbollah's morale. The IAF was very successful in providing air support to ground forces. The air force also took great risks in airlifting ground troops and supplies.

Prior to the war, IAF head Major General Eliezer Shkedi had warned the force would face a serious problem in countering the short-range rockets deployed in southern Lebanon. The air force had limited success hunting for these rockets, which it claims was due to poor intelligence. It turned out that most of these rockets were fired from fixed positions, but even if all these sites were destroyed, the rocket attacks would not have stopped - they merely would have become less accurate
Bookmark to del.icio.us
Foreign correspondents
Police probe 3 Israeli journalists suspected of unauthorized travel to enemy states.
Petrol protest
Gaza gas station owners refuse to accept reduced fuel supplies from Israel.
  1.   The whole thing was illegal and immoral 10:10  |  Marilyn 10/09/06
  2.   IAF 10:20  |  S 10/09/06
  3.   IAF Victory? 10:29  |  Lebanese admirer 10/09/06
  4.   A book to read 10:32  |  Maral 10/09/06
  5.   Oh, Come On, You Got Creamed 10:36  |  Rowan Berkeley 10/09/06
  6.   rowan berkerly`s nightmare 10:56  |  fagin 10/09/06
  7.   rowan berkerly 10:57  |  fagin 10/09/06
  8.   clickfool is rowan berkerly 10:59  |  harzion 10/09/06
  9.   the anti israel dogs come baying earlier 11:01  |  thucydides 10/09/06
  10.   To Marilyn 11:02  |  David 10/09/06
  11.   lebanese admirer the iaf has beaten all other 11:05  |  shylock 10/09/06
  12.   Israel must prepare for a total war on all fronts 11:07  |  Shalom Freedman 10/09/06
  13.   maral i recall your shouts of victory 11:09  |  lord acton 10/09/06
  14.   to Marilyn #1 11:11  |  jeff atkinson 10/09/06
  15.   CRAP! this info is CRAP! 11:12  |  Christian Lebanese 10/09/06
  16.   marilyn you lie in your teeth 11:14  |  shylock 10/09/06
  17.   re #3 IAF victory 11:14  |  jeff atkinson 10/09/06
  18.   Ethnic cleansing is not always mass murder 11:16  |  Marilyn 10/09/06
  19.   so i gather we can expect rowan berkerly et al 11:19  |  disraeli 10/09/06
  20.   Rose tinted spectacles 11:25  |  Lebanese admirer 10/09/06
  21.   lord acton u recall nothing 11:30  |  Maral 10/09/06
  22.   David N0. 10 11:31  |  Lebanese admirer 10/09/06
  23.   realy astonished 11:35  |  lebanese 10/09/06
  24.   12. Shalom: the heavy price of "success" 11:37  |  Whoopsie 10/09/06
  25.   were you there? 11:45  |  lebanese 10/09/06
  26.   Marilyn 11:47  |  ChanahS 10/09/06
  27.   #18" Ethnic cleansing is not always mass murder" 11:47  |  jeff atkinson 10/09/06
  28.   Marilyn # 18 11:51  |  ChanahS 10/09/06
  29.   silly marilyn i`ll have you know 11:56  |  disraeli 10/09/06
  30.   14. jeff atkinson 12:01  |  Froggie 10/09/06
  31.   #25 "were you there?" 12:02  |  jeff atkinson 10/09/06
  32.   shalom freedman is totally right 12:05  |  make me 10/09/06
  33.   maral you lost the war and now you are quite 12:05  |  lord acton 10/09/06
  34.   The IAF did not "succeed", its technology did 12:09  |  Dr. L. Brnd 10/09/06
  35.   Hezbollah And Syria Lost! Rest Won! 12:10  |  Sam The Sham 10/09/06
  36.   lebanese the truth is the result 12:12  |  disraeli 10/09/06
  37.   victory...thoughts of a lebanese evacuee 12:14  |  jean from lebanon 10/09/06
  38.   Answer to number 1 12:17  |  David Nigel Braham 10/09/06
  39.   Israeli`s War Crimes Against Lebanon 12:17  |  Imad 10/09/06
  40.   R.BERKLEY.Why were your victors in such a rush to get a ceasefire 12:22  |  PETER SM 10/09/06
  41.   Bravery 12:32  |  Kiki Bardot 10/09/06
  42.   To jeff atkinson #25 12:32  |  Imad 10/09/06
  43.   maral i have never seen a more venomous female 12:32  |  lord acton 10/09/06
  44.   tm nr 1 marylin 12:36  |  kman 10/09/06
  45.   congratulation 12:46  |  elis 10/09/06
  46.   to Marylin 12:55  |  Imad 10/09/06
  47.   Marilyn and truth and honesty 13:04  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 10/09/06
  48.   One More Victim 13:08  |  Ze`ev`s Doctor 10/09/06
  49.   No wonder 13:14  |  watcher 10/09/06
  50.   Victory is easy against those without weapons 13:15  |  Clickfool 10/09/06
  51.   Israel in denial 13:17  |  khaled 10/09/06
  52.   # 1- Marilyn..You are one of many people who are..... 13:25  |  Klaudia 10/09/06
  53.   To maral 13:26  |  Imad 10/09/06
  54.   Acton... 13:36  |  Maral 10/09/06
  55.   Acton Your Manners 13:48  |  Mimshal 10/09/06
  56.   Harzion sings to Clickfool on Sunday 13:57  |  Clickfool 10/09/06
  57.   Chanah is deluded 14:02  |  Marilyn 10/09/06
  58.   Rowan Berkeley#5 Good comedy site! 14:28  |  Zardos 10/09/06
  59.   to my felow lebanes 14:52  |  Imad 10/09/06
  60.   Imad 14:57  |  watcher 10/09/06
  61.   TO#3 LEBANIESE ADMIRER 14:59  |  Mark G 10/09/06
  62.   Marilyn : don`t try to kid us; we live here 15:01  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 10/09/06
  63.   Arabs have always been liars 15:02  |  watcher 10/09/06
  64.   TO mr CRISTIAN LEBANESE 15:13  |  Mark G 10/09/06
  65.   #49 Clickfool 15:23  |  World watcher 10/09/06
  66.   marilyn" i agree that hizb fired 3900 rockets 15:25  |  shylock 10/09/06
  67.   Well, Marilyn 15:33  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 10/09/06
  68.   No escape now for Lebanese government 15:37  |  Ian 10/09/06
  69.   Dear jeff atkinson from California... 15:42  |  marios polycarpou 10/09/06
  70.   TO ELIS FROM SAO PAOLO 15:47  |  Mark G 10/09/06
  71.   Hypocrisy lies deep in the heartland 15:50  |  Geoff 10/09/06
  72.   57: Marilyn, please stop lying 16:11  |  David Teich 10/09/06
  73.   #18 You ethnically cleaned Australis. Go back 16:34  |  Haham me Bat Yam 10/09/06
  74.   #18 You ethnically cleaned Australis. Go back 16:34  |  Haham me Bat Yam 10/09/06
  75.   whatever you sai 16:54  |  ishmael 10/09/06
  76.   Schif is Wrong--IAF and IMF were totally impotent 17:19  |  Sal 10/09/06
  77.   Zardos #58 17:20  |  Rowan Berkeley 10/09/06
  78.   IAF : a victory but not a success... 17:50  |  Francois 10/09/06
  79.   you lost 17:57  |  leb 10/09/06
  80.   For World Watcher 17:58  |  Clickfool 10/09/06
  81.   Waste of Time 17:58  |  Monstruo 10/09/06
  82.   Ishmael 17:59  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 10/09/06