Maariv: Givati Brigade exercise find 71 soldiers killed first 24 hours in
simulation entering Gaza

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 15 January 2008

Maariv correspondent Amir Buchbut reports in today's edition that reservists
in the Givati Brigade say a recent exercise they carried out practicing an
invasion of the Gaza Strip found 71 soldiers killed in the first 24 hour of
the invasion. The heavy losses were attributed to the major improvement in
weapons and explosives that the Palestinians have amassed thanks to the long
period during which they have been able to smuggle and prepare for battle,

It should be noted that the position of the Sharon and Olmert
administrations has been (and continues to be) to continually postpone the
large scale operation required to address the growing challenge without
taking into account that the cost of the operation to Israel is ever
growing.

Critics note that a common Israeli error is to assume that the other parties
to a conflict will not change over time. This approach has been used for
years by those who support trading the Golan Height for gizmos that would
theoretically compensate for the loss of the Golan based on the assumption
that the Syrians would never develop answers to the gizmos.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office replied to Maariv that the purpose of the
exercises is not to develop loss estimates but instead to practice various
battle methods, weapons systems and coordination between the various
fighting forces.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il