Weekly Commentary: Kick The Can? Former COS Eisenkot's Guidelines for
Israel's National Security Strategy
Dr. Aaron Lerner 4 October, 2019

Here's the description of Guidelines for Israel's National Security
Strategy - Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot and Col. (res.) Gabi Siboni
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus160-EisenkotSiboni.pdf

"Israeli military experts examine the current map of Israel's threats and
propose principles to address them as the basis for a comprehensive national
security strategy, emphasizing the importance of the "campaign between
wars."
Gadi Eisenkot, who served as IDF Chief of Staff from 2014 until 2019, is
currently a military fellow at The Washington Institute.
Gabi Siboni is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National
Security Studies.

Here we are facing a tremendous security challenge whose details cannot be
shared yet with the Israeli public. Suffice it to say that there are major
elements of this challenge that developed thanks to a "quiet for quiet"
(Q4Q) policy both vis-a-vis Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Under Q4Q the enemy
can literally make any and every build up in forces and capabilities as long
as it doesn't use them yet against the Jewish State.

Q4Q aka kick the "enemy force/capabilities build up" can down the road
policy is thus something that one would expect to be subject to considerable
examination and discussion in "Guidelines for Israel's National Security
Strategy ". This particularly in light of the dramatic exception recently
made to Q4Q in Syria and Iraq.

Unfortunately, instead of a serious discussion there is this one-liner:

"Proactive damage to the enemy's force buildup. Israel can initiate actions
to damage the enemy's force buildup through both the campaign between the
wars and as part of a wider campaign aimed at thwarting the enemy's
strategic capabilities"

I am disappointed and concerned.

I am disappointed that the man who served as IDF Chief of Staff from 2014
until 2019 doesn't use this opportunity to address a policy that now could
cost us dearly.

I am concerned because if Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot doesn't apparently
feel that Q4Q is a problem, that the people now in charge may share this
view.



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