One year after the Second Lebanon War, reservists say nothing has changed along the northern border and that another kidnapping, like the one that sparked last summers war, is merely a matter of time.

Soldiers from three reserve units that recently completed operational duty in the North said equipment malfunctions and shortages, as well as other signs of neglect, abound. If Hezbollah wanted to, it would have no trouble seizing another soldier, they said.

In response, the Israel Defense Forces Northern Command said that over the past year, great efforts have been made to change the modus operandi along the border, and tens of millions of shekels have been invested in improving defenses and equipment. There are still problems, admitted one senior officer, but the situation is much better than it was last July.

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Following are the units and some of their main complaints:


A patrol unit serving in the sector where last summer's abduction occurred

Soldiers and officers said there are not enough troops to effectively patrol the sector. One sensitive outpost that used to be manned by a platoon, for instance, is now manned by half a platoon.

Internal IDF probes found that the company to which the kidnapped soldiers belonged had been severely undermanned for its missions.

No systems for defense against antitank missiles, which proved lethal during the war, have been installed. While two such systems, both brand new, have been sitting in the outpost for months, they were never brought online.

There are severe shortages of essential equipment. Lookouts do not have secure communications devices, and the outpost's one secure telephone line could not be reached quickly in the event of an attack. The outpost's armored personal carrier has no machine guns or secure communications devices, and its driver is poorly trained. While there is also a patrol vehicle, its driver is only present at night, so it is never used.

The soldiers have hand grenades, but have not exercised with them since basic training years ago. They never trained in how to use the outpost?s machine gun. Snipers and machine gunners lacked sights for their guns.

A lookout unit in the western sector

According to an officer, the outpost has no operations room, so the lookouts double as operations officers, which distracts them from keeping watch. There are frequent equipment breakdowns, some of which have not been fixed for months. Vital intelligence tools are lacking.

An intelligence unit in the eastern sector

Officers said equipment breaks down frequently. There is no stock of replacements, and it is often hard to get a technician to fix the problems.

Intelligence material on the sector is hidden in the outposts somewhere and often does not reach the reservists. It is therefore frequently not used.

The unit received direct access to satellite pictures only at the end of its service; until then, it relied on Google Earth, a commercial Web site that has maps and satellite photos of the entire world.

The sector's vehicles are badly maintained and often unsafe.

The officers also criticized one of the regular battalions that served alongside them. The battalion's outposts were neglected, some of its officers were frequently absent, and the soldiers "were mostly busy watching television and playing with Playstation," charged one.

"If an experienced Hezbollah force decided to carry out an abduction or another attack here, it's hard to see what would prevent it," he concluded, with his colleagues concurring.

Another officer in a different sector offered an identical assessment.

"It's clear to me, after serving on the line, that there will be another kidnapping," he said.

"There are substantial problems. The territorial brigade was attentive to our complaints and in some cases tried to fix things, but the problems that were fixed were minor."

A senior Northern Command officer responded that over the last year, major efforts have been made on the Lebanese border. "We're still at the height of the process," he said.

"There are gaps, but we?re dealing with them, and we're also training the forces intensively. Could there be another kidnapping here? That's always true. But I think we've prepared the sector to deal with it better."

The reservists he has spoken to offered much more positive assessments than did those interviewed by Haaretz, he added.

Some problems stem from the fact that the outposts are very old and need renovations, but the North is not the army's top priority, he said. He asserted that the numbers of troops is reasonable for the tasks assigned.

Regarding secure communications devices, he said the army simply cannot supply these to everyone. As for the antitank system, there's a particular problem at that site that makes it hard to replace. The division is aware of the problem.