To Michael Milshtein, Israel’s unpreparedness on October 7 wasn’t so much the result of missed warning signals or of inadequate defensive tactics, but of a failure to understand Hamas’s ethos and strategic intentions. Drawing on his experience as one of the IDF’s chief authorities on Palestinian affairs, Milshtein—in conversation with Calev Ben-Dor and Jack Omer-Jackaman—goes on to discuss the progress of the war, relations with the Palestinian Authority, and what the future of the Gaza Strip might look like. He also mentions some good news: there is no sign of a third intifada brewing in the West Bank, in part because of the IDF’s elimination of the terrorist mastermind Saleh al-Arouri. (Video, 49 minutes.)
Read more on Fathom: https://fathomjournal.org/we-didnt-understand-hamas-at-all-fathom-interview-michael-milshtein/