While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East, Yaakov Katz, Amir Bohbot, authors
The barbaric attack that took place in Israel on October 7th, 2023, is a day that will live in infamy, if not in the hearts and minds of the world, than surely in the hearts and minds of most Jews worldwide and in the hearts and minds of everyone that lives in or works in Israel, Jew and non-Jew alike. Although, in hindsight, there seemed to have been many warnings and many events that indicated a terrible attack was coming, it was not recognized in time. Israelis, who were committed to working with their neighbors in Gaza, were happily going about their lives, believing that they were encouraging camaraderie and creating more stability and peace for Israel and their Palestinian neighbors in Gaza. They believed that they would get along with their historic enemies, if they worked together. They were wrong, and after October 7th, they would never make that mistake again. They woke up to the reality that the people who attacked them had always wanted to kill them and destroy Israel. Their enemies were never going to be deterred from their purpose. Their religion gave them cover and rewarded them for their heinous behavior. The authors detailed the events and the history that led to the barbaric attack. They attempted to present a fair description of the events, but throughout, there was little condemnation of the barbarism and far more stress on Israel’s behavior and failure to anticipate the attack. I believe that no one in their right mind could ever have anticipated such a brutal and bloodthirsty attack like the one carried out by the Palestinians. It was maniacal in its zeal to murder, torture and/or humiliate the victims and the hostages that were kidnapped and hidden in the tunnels built beneath schools, hospitals and homes. Israelis, at first, resisted retaliation for fear of collateral damage.
The authors included what seemed like well-researched reasons for the failure to recognize the possibility of the attack before it occurred, and even explained why the extent of the ultimate violence and destruction was not anticipated. The intelligence in Israel was either faulty or those receiving it were complacent. They were lulled by the Palestinians. They pretended to be gainfully and contentedly working in Israel. The powers that be did not want to encourage any further terror attacks or rocket launches than they were already dealing with on a regular basis, so sensing no impending disaster, nor could anyone have imagined one on the scale that occurred, they simply dismissed the warnings they did receive. The desire to keep the peace convinced them to turn a blind eye to the warnings that would probably have been more obvious to observers more willing to see the forest for the trees. From the get-go, the explanations provided by the authors, seemed obvious. The failures and the successes in Israel’s security appeared authentic and were painful to assess. Israel was no longer listening to their enemy’s voice, but their enemies were waiting in the wings for the right moment to strike. I believed that the book had struck somewhat of a balance in its approach, until it neared the end. The authors and their message took a decided turn with explanations that began to seem more and more geared to their own political bias.
While reading, I could not help thinking that the Gazans could not have pulled this off alone, but I didn't feel that the authors were bothered particularly by their actions or the actions of the world at large, even though October 7th was often compared to the Holocaust. I wondered why Israel, the victim, was eagerly portrayed more as the victimizer by the press and many authors like these, while the actual villains, the Arabs, had become the victims. Was it only that Israel had lost control of the message and the enemy had not, or was it that the enemy had captured sympathy in the eyes and ears of the world because the only message being aired and heard was one of hatefulness toward Israel and the Jewish people. In their assessment, these very authors were trying to point out the weaknesses of Israel, unconcerned about their vulnerability due to being surrounded by vicious enemies bent on their total destruction, so they did, only rarely, point out Israel’s strengths and innocence regarding their past and present behavior. When it turned out that the Gazans received an enormous amount of help from the leaders of other countries, it was obvious that the barbarians did not dream up such a violent and horrific attack on their own. The scope of the attack was too huge. Yet no one seemed to even consider why would anyone in their right mind would ever willingly have conducted themselves so reprehensibly.
Why, although Israel was attacked, was it being demonized? I did not get any answers to those enigmas. The focus of these authors was on how Israel had conducted itself historically, and in the present, after it was attacked, in a sense, blaming the victim for the attack and the response to it. While the authors addressed the fact that Israel often did not completely destroy its enemy, but instead wavered in favor of protecting innocent citizens, the collateral damage, behavior that I would have thought that was a virtue, they placed the blame for that on Netanyahu's self-interest. No blame was placed on the heads of our government that encouraged such restraint. Leaders like Obama and Biden were praised, though they, with their subtle threats to withhold weapons, influenced the actions of leaders like Netanyahu, almost forcing them to hesitate while conducting their wars, forcing them to hold back in their final efforts to destroy Israel's enemies. This occurred not only in Gaza, but in Lebanon and the West Bank, as well. It was often not Netanyahu’s politics that controlled the decisions, but America's.
The Bank of China laundered the terrorist’s money and Qatar gave the leaders of Hamas and other terror groups, peaceful sanctuary. Sadly, they were not alone. There were many more participants. As the picture of how the horror was played out became clearer and the sophisticated tunnels were discovered with documents indicating the goals and tactics, the outside participation and collaboration became more obvious and influential. Even the United States, and Israel itself, were subtly complicit in aiding the enemy, since economic and political exigencies often seemed to guide them. So why did the authors lavish so much praise upon Biden and Obama, regarding Israel, while giving little credit to Trump? Was he not the leader that really aided Israel unconditionally during both his terms? Weren’t the Abraham Accords a symbol of his efforts toward peace? Was it not Trump that effectively gave Netanyahu the green light to go into Rafah, a battle that was decisive. Was it not Trump who helped them attack the nuclear sites in Iran? Yet little praise was given as these momentous decisions were glossed over. These authors pretty much blamed everything on Netanyahu’s weakness and Trump’s foolish comments and expectations.
Although the enemies bit the hand that fed them, they are now demanding to be fed again, demanding that their behavior be overlooked. Why was it falling to Israel to rebuild and deal with Gaza’s humanitarian needs, needs made greater because of their barbaric behavior and overwhelming support of Hamas. Does that not give their heinous actions credibility, while it dismisses the actual reason for the war. Does that not accept the terrorism and the terrorists’ atrocious actions? Does not this victor deserve the spoils, like all other victors? As I read, I kept returning to several ideas never stressed by these authors. How could anyone that committed such horrific murders and showed such grotesque behavior, glorying in and glorifying the blood spilled and the screams heard from their victims, not be condemned by all? How could so many be blinded and maddened by their religious dogma? Israel has made monumental efforts to live in peace. Netanyahu was replaced by Naftali Bennett who increased the number of enemies allowed into Israel, hoping to improve relationships. Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon, etc., tried and also failed to bring peace to Israel. Things never improved because their enemies never changed their intent. How can that insane intent to reclaim the land and destroy Israel ever be modified? Yahya Al-Sinwar, whose life was saved by Israeli doctors, still continued to hate. He learned all about Israel, the Israelis and their vulnerabilities in the Israeli prison where his religious zeal and hatred grew. He knew how to turn the screw to make the world and the Israelis react.
So, today, although Israel was once happy to have Qatar pay the Arabs a stipend to keep the peace, they have now learned a bitter lesson, you cannot sleep with your enemy. The money provided by a quasi-friend of Israel, with the consent of the United States, was used to try and destroy them. The unrest and rivalry, coupled with the judicial chaos in Israel, were interpreted as a sign of their weakness. Their enemies knew that inciting fear would create chaos. They sowed it by relentlessly attacking them and spreading the idea that Israel was the aggressor. They were succeeding in their efforts. The lack of reaction by Israel inspired them to attack. When false messages are repeated ad nauseam by a media that seems corrupted by its own politics, and books are written that only explain one side, it is hard to get beyond the message of evil Israel. The seed of chaos and corruption, once planted, grows. Sometimes the message sent is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This book made me much more aware of Israel’s need to quickly become totally independent, both economically and militarily. Israel must find a better way to message about their actions. It must rethink the idea of why they have to behave better than their enemies. Perhaps answering to a higher power in this instance is not the one right way. Israel can no longer treat its enemies better than its enemy treats Israel. Israel needs to take care of its own and 10/7 made sure of it. Israelis are no longer naïve. They are now more united and stronger. They are no longer blinded by the seeming quiet which was the calm before the storm. They know they need to go back to using human intelligence, because without it the nuances go unnoticed and the warnings unheeded. Israel realizes that while it was trying to find a path to peace and was always attempting to reduce the number of casualties, their Arab enemies were paving the road to war hoping to shed as much blood and heartache as possible. Sowing discontent of any kind, real or not, is a terrible weapon. The attack awakened the Lion of Judah and it has returned to protect the house of the dove.
When the authors made a 180-degree turn at the end, regarding politics, and condemned Netanyahu and Trump, showing bias, they seemed just as guilty of thinking of their self-interest and politics as the people they accused, perhaps more guilty because
of the pretense, I was extremely disappointed. Because there were many valid points expressed and so many sources cited that gave credibility to the details, I refuse to be swayed by their bias, however, but because of it, I will do further reading on the subject. I feel forced to question some of the ideas they presented.