New Delhi: One of the most highly regarded and internationally respected former heads of Israel’s Mossad as well as of the country’s National Security Council has said that Israel is guilty of “a very very serious mis-estimation intelligence-wise of Hamas’s capability”. Efraim Halevy has also spelt out in great detail how serious were the intelligence and military lapses on Israel’s part when Hamas attacked on October 7, and he has also specified the different levels at which this happened. Most importantly, Halevy says that Israeli women soldiers in observation posts were repeatedly reporting Hamas’s preparations, drills and other activities that clearly suggested a major Hamas operation was about to start, but were not just ignored but threatened with court martial if they continued with their reports. Halevy also confirms that an important Israeli army unit was removed from the Gaza border area to the West Bank just days before the Hamas attack and that there was unnecessary slowness in returning that unit to the Gaza border.In a candid, fulsome and detailed interview – where he himself accepts he might have spoken more than he should have, Halevy – who has also been sent as troubleshooter to Jordan while he was Israel’s ambassador to the EU (Jordan being one the few Arab countries to have recognised Israel and a very important neighbour) – said that this morning (December 22), the commander of the Israeli 98th Division, who is leading the attack in South Gaza, has said the war “will take years in order to win.”In the interview, Halevy said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim, made in the early days of the war, that Israel would “annihilate” Hamas, was “an unfortunate statement” and added that “we are not in a position to obtain this result”. Halevy agreed that “Israel has set itself an unachievable goal.”He said that the best way of dealing with Hamas is “to talk to Hamas and not only fight Hamas”.Also read: The Biden Administration’s Delay of Gun Shipments to Israel Police Is Simply Too LittleIn the interview, Halevy recounts in some detail the attempt to murder former Hamas chief Khaled Mashal around 2007-2008 by administering poison to him and how that opened a window, proposed to him as Israel’s ambassador by King Hussein of Jordan, for a ‘hudna’, which is Arabic for ceasefire.But, he says, Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to grab this opportunity.There is an awful lot in this interview with Halevy which I am not revealing because I think you should hear it for yourself. Let me instead reiterate that Halevy is possibly the most highly regarded former head of intelligence in Israel. He has spoken with incredible candour, detail and with a great amount of revelation of things that he has personally known and seen in his illustrious career.To help you, I include below the questions. They will give you some sense of how the conversation develops.But you must see the conversation for yourself. I don’t believe any other head of Mossad and any other head of Israel’s National Security Council has spoken so fully to an Indian audience, or perhaps any audience on a television interview.Here are the questions:1. In the last ten weeks since October 7, it’s become clear that there were multiple intelligence and military failures on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. However, what we don’t know is how serious they were and at what sort of levels they occurred. Could you start by giving me some idea of this?2. Prior to October 7, Israel went through a period of some nine months of political turmoil with tens of thousands protesting on the streets against the prime minister’s proposed judicial reforms. To what extent did that turmoil play to Hamas’s advantage, whilst weakening the response of the Israeli state?3. As a former head of Mossad and former head of the Israeli National Security Council, what do you believe was Hamas’s intention behind the October 7 attack? They know they can’t bring Israel to its knees. So what was the aim or purpose of this attack?4. Hamas must have known that Israel’s response would be devastating and that thousands of innocent Palestinians would die as a result. But do you think they failed to realise just how devastating the response would be? Did they underestimate Israel’s response?5. In response, Israel has set out to obliterate Hamas. No doubt the leadership and the organisation can be destroyed, but what about the ideology? Is there a danger that support for what Hamas stands for may have grown both in Gaza and the West Bank?6. In your opinion, what is the best way of dealing with Hamas?7. At this point, let me put to you a perception in the Global South and one that is also shared by many in the West, particularly the young. People are beginning to feel that Israel is determined to obliterate Hamas no matter what the toll in civilian Palestinian lives. In other words, that the end justifies the means, no matter how horrific the means.How do you respond to that view?8. Are you scared that after 20,000 deaths and 50,000 injured, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Palestinians will seek revenge? Could Israel end up with a worse problem?9. It’s reported both from Qatari sources and from President Herzog that Israel is considering another temporary pause to enable fresh aid to reach Gaza and more hostages to be released.But if the war resumes after that – because this is only a pause, not a ceasefire – how long can it continue? US President Joe Biden has accused Israel of indiscriminate killing, and US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said far too many Palestinians have been killed.At what point will America, the only country that matters to Israel, say ‘enough is enough, you have to stop’?10. Let’s come to the hostages. There are still some 129 in Hamas custody and they have been held prisoner for 11 weeks. In the past, Israel has been prepared for a disproportionate exchange of Palestinian prisoners in return for Israeli hostages. You released 1,027 in 2011 for a single soldier, Gilad Shalit. In 1985, you released 1,150 prisoners for three Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.This time the Netanyahu government is not willing to accept a similar exchange. How do you view this marked change in attitude?11. As a former head of Mossad and former head of the Israeli National Security Council, how do you view the massive protests in Europe and America against Israel’s bombing and ground invasion of Gaza? Does it worry you that a whole generation of young people in countries that are your allies are turning against Israel?12. Let’s talk about Netanyahu’s policy towards the Palestinians. For sixteen years, he’s been determined to discredit Fatah and the Palestine Authority whilst building up or, at least, maintaining Hamas in the belief that he can manage their opposition to Israel. This was his way of undermining with the two-nation solution. How do you view this strategy?13. What do you see as the future? With some reportedly 750,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is a two-nation solution still feasible? People like Gideon Levy believe the only solution is a one-nation solution where Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs have equal rights as equal citizens in one country.Which of the two views do you incline towards?
