> on border with one's mortal enemy
replyI have no special stake or knowledge of this, but Israel hasn't treated Gaza or Palestinians as their "mortal enemy"... more of a problematic-but-largely-contained source of rockets and hateful rhetoric, at least until 2023.
They have treated Palestinians as a pest to be exterminated since before Israel existed. Israels entire existence is based on the erasure of the Palestinian people.
replyThere are five times as many Palestinians in Palestine-the-region as there were in 1960.
replyIncompetence can't be ruled out.
replyI've listened to podcasts discussing the Israel military. One thing that people need to realize is that the IDF and it's leaders are skewed incredibly young. The mandatory service paired with the fact that people often don't stay in service means that they have 30 year old colonels and 35 year old generals.
They don't have the sort of career and institution knowledge like the US military has.