By: Lt Col JS Sodhi (Retd), Editor, GSDN
After Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948 it was well aware of the onslaught that it would face from the neighbouring Arab nations, as its unilateral declaration of independence was in contravention to the United Nations resolution 181 (II) of November 29, 1947 and after decades of bloody confrontation with the Arabs in this tiny area of the Middle East measuring 22,145 square kilometres.
But Israel prepared itself militarily well and for decades later, it fought various multi-front wars with its Arab neighbours and each time it emerged victorious thus setting a benchmark for the global militaries for professionalism in the armed forces.
Neither the UN resolution 242 of 1967 which declared Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and the Golan Heights illegal, deterred Israel as the might of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was enough for the four multi-front wars that had been waged on Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, nor the numerous skirmishes and minor conflicts that Israel has fought since its independence impeded Israel’s military might.
The high point of IDF’s combat prowess came in 1973 when in the 19-day Yom Kippur War it defeated a 11-nation coalition force.
The successful Raid on Entebbe codenamed “Operation Thunderbolt” launched on July 03-04, 1976 to rescue 104 hostages hijacked onboard an Air France flight between Tel Aviv and Paris which was diverted to Entebbe International Airport, Uganda, embedded IDF’s position as the finest professional military in the world.
But the supremacy of the IDF in the Middle East and as the pole leader as the world’s most professional military was set to be challenged.
After Hamas was formed on December 10, 1987 and started governing the 365-square kilometres Gaza Strip since 2007, Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip located on its southern border, five times in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2023. But each time Israel had to end its war with Hamas with a ceasefire.
On Israel’s northern border too, the IDF had to end its war on the Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and 2024 with a ceasefire.
Clearly, the same IDF which had defeated a 11-nation coalition force during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 ending its wars with a ceasefire with both the Hamas and Hezbollah on January 19, 2025 and November 27, 2024 respectively, which ended the 15-month war with Hamas and the 60-day war with Hezbollah, is definitely what the global militaries and the IDF too, need to ponder upon.
The resignation of the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi and its Southern Army Commander Major General Yaron Finkleman on January 21, 2025 clearly indicated defeat for the IDF.
Hence, it is important to analyse the changes that IDF went through which transformed it from winning the war in 1973 against a 11-nation coalition force, to its defeat in 2025 against Hamas and Hezbollah, which are not professional armies as they lack air power, naval power and artillery firepower.
Disregarding the Conventional War Threat
After the Arab Spring hit Syria and the regime of Bashar al-Assad was on a shaky wicket with a civil war engulfing Syria, Israel judged that that the last of the conventional war threats to it in the Middle East from Syria had crippled. Of the assessed major conventional war threats to Israel were Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel had signed a peace treaty with Egypt on March 26, 1979 and with Jordan on October 26, 1994. Thus, the only remaining conventional war threat of Syria with whom Israel had no peace treaty, was crippled severely as per Israel’s assessment.
Hamas and Hezbollah were not major threats and were dismissed by the IDF as “mere terrorist organisations” who lacked combat experience, confidence and firepower to be elevated as primary military threats.
Hence, in 2015, the IDF promulgated the Gideon Multi-Year Plan (GMYP) to reform, recalibrate and reduce the IDF to counter the asymmetric and non-state adversary threats overlooking the conventional war considerations.
As time would prove later on, the GYMP was a blunder and the IDF couldn’t achieve victories in the ground operations launched against Hamas in the Gaza Strip or against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2025.
An important lesson for the global militaries is never discard conventional war threats.
Changes in Battlegroup Formations
Before the formulation of GMYP, a Division was the cutting edge fighting force of the IDF. After 2015, Brigades were redesignated as Independent Battle Groups (IBGs) which replaced the Divisions as frontline fighting forces of the IDF. Each IBG with six battalions of Infantry, Armour, Artillery and Engineers could directly communicate with the Air Force and the Navy for combat support.
This reform of IBGs clearly failed in the conventional war scenario as is evident from the huge reverses and setbacks that the IBGs suffered in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
An important take-away for the global militaries is that the time-tested Divisions as the cutting edge should not be replaced.
Reduction of Manpower
The IDF reduced their combat and non-combat manpower by 10% and the size of the conscripted forces by 30%. The length of conscripted service was reduced by four months. The commissioned and warrant officer posts were reduced by 45,000.
In the recent operations against Hamas and Hezbollah, the IDF experienced a severe shortage of manpower.
It would be pertinent to highlight that global militaries should avoid large reduction in manpower, for how advanced technology might become, what will finally matter is the soldier behind the weapon.
Drastic change in Infantry training
Consequent to 2015, the IDF Infantry soldiers’ training focussed primarily on urban warfare and open-battlefield warfare practises were removed from specialized training programmes.
It would be pertinent here to highlight that an IDF soldier undergoes two stages of training – basic training and specialised training. Basic training is common to all soldiers and specialized training is as per the respective combat role ie Infantry, Armoured, Artillery etc.
The removal of open-warfare practises from the specialized training of an Infantry soldier did immense damage in Israel’s recent war with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Global militaries should avoid doing away with the teachings of conventional warfare.
Reduced Armour
In accordance with the GMYP wherein emphasis was on urban warfare rather than conventional warfare, ten reserve armoured brigades of the IDF were reduced and the size of each armoured battalion was reduced from six armour companies to three armour companies along with two companies of infantry and one company of engineers. This resulted in drastic reduction of armour firepower which proved disastrous in the recent wars.
Armour firepower will play a critical role in conventional wars and global militaries need to remember that.
Reduction in Artillery
The Artillery in IDF too saw half of its reserve artillery brigades dismantled, leaving the IDF with just four active artillery brigades and four reserve artillery battalions. Artillery is known as the “God of War” and the inadequacy of the IDF’s artillery firepower was noticed in the recently concluded ceasefires with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Global militaries should never reduce the traditional firepower sources like Artillery as their usage in a conventional war scenario is extremely beneficial.
Conclusion
Clearly, by negating conventional war threats and preparing for only asymmetric warfare, Israel paid a heavy price and its pole position as the world’s finest professional military for many decades, has been dented severely. The resignation of IDF’s Chief of Staff and the Southern Army Commander should be having the IDF and the global militaries introspecting and taking suitable and time-bound measures in protecting their respective nations as war clouds darken in various parts of the world.
Never before in Israel’s history has the IDF’s Chief of Staff or the Commander of any of its Commands resigned after any war that Israel has fought since 1948, as after each war from 1948 till couple of years back, Israel emerged victorious. This wasn’t the case this time.
The warning of the United Kingdom Defence Secretary on January 15, 2024 that the “era of the peace dividend” which came with the end of the Cold War is over with the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and these wars are the forerunners of future wars, needs no over-emphasis to global militaries in learning lessons from the IDF and preparing for the era of wars that is already on the horizon.
