As recently released economic data confirm, high-tech in its various forms continues to play a critical role in Israel’s economic success. Gabi Siboni traces how this came about—looking especially to the role of the IDF—and examines the risks as well as benefits of the current situation:

The basic concept of security formulated by David Ben-Gurion in the early years of the state rested on three pillars: deterrence, early warning, and decisive victory. Maintaining a sizeable regular military was practically impossible, so early warning was required to gather the reserve units. This constraint obliged the IDF to establish a sophisticated intelligence system to provide early warning. The intelligence units of the IDF were required to develop diverse capabilities. The information revolution and the development of technology caused intelligence to be based more and more on technological capabilities in cyberspace.

In addition, conscription for the IDF is an essential element in developing the technological environment in Israel. The specialized units in the IDF begin the selection process at very early stages and enjoy access to the highest-quality personnel resources of the state of Israel. . . . However, there’s a catch: the youth’s pursuit of the technological units does contribute to the skills of Israeli intelligence and the state’s economy, but it harms the motivation to recruit into the fighting units.

According to an internal survey conducted in the IDF, the motivation for combat service for men in 2022 was the lowest in recent years—66 percent compared with 73 percent in 2020. For women, it was 48 percent in 2022, compared with 60 percent in 2018. The continuation of this trend is very disturbing.

A senior commander in the IDF previously stated that the decrease in motivation to serve in the field units is a result of the shift to the technological units of the best youth when the center of gravity of the service moves from the fighting field units to the special units and to those serving in the intelligence and technological units. As a result, the combat units must make do with those who failed or could not integrate into the personnel selection processes for the special units, the prestigious courses, and the technological and intelligence array.

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.