As head of the IDF general staff’s planning division, General Eyal Harel must consider what it will take to defend the Jewish state both in the next few years and the next few decades, wrestling with problems of personnel, rapidly changing weaponry, and shifting strategic challenges. He discusses these issues in an interview by Danny Zaken and Amiram Barkat:

The technological innovations and developments excite Harel, but the biggest good news, according to him, is the development of a powerful laser system that can even protect Israel against Iran. The Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Air Force, and Elbit Systems recently completed a series of trials with a laser installation capable of destroying rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other threats. The system is expected to be operational in a little over three years, and its big advantage is its very cheap cost compared with Iron Dome; just a few dollars per interception, compared with some $50,000.

Harel also comments on the possibilities opened up by progress in the field of artificial intelligence:

“Imagine a drone squadron being able to capture a zone, a village, an assembly area and deal with it. Imagine them coming in different formations and altitudes, and performing different actions. For example, they’ll be able to use sensors to detect an enemy inside a room, enter through a window, identify the enemy, and detonate. It’s amazing and it’s going to happen. It’s just a question of when.”

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.