____________________________________________ 5 IICC Perspectives Then, it was once again proved that the third historical concept, decision, is no longer relevant. In no war did we actually defeat our enemies: not in the War of Independence, not in the Sinai Operation, not in the Six Day War, despite the impressive victory, not in the War of Attrition and not in the Yom Kippur War. There is a big difference between "victory" (given the various interpretations it's meaning), and defeat, in a total sense. And here, the asymmetric conflict, that is, the need to fight with varying intensity against sub-state organizations, only added another challenge: the two intifadas did not lead to the defeat of the terrorist organizations plaguing Israel, nor did the two wars in Lebanon (the first against the PLO in 1982, and the second against Hezbollah in 2006). Those who expect Hamas would be defeated and "eliminated" in the current operation only deluded themselves. It may be possible to crush it, but like crabgrass, but it will grow back, because an ideology, and certainly a religious ideology, cannot be completely defeated. There are voices which claim that even today, the foundations of the Concept of National Security, however shaky and fractured they may be, are still valid, and all that is needed is to update and renovate them in the spirit of the times and its challenges, and put the concept back on its feet. My position is that we need a tripod with renewed legs, if not really new ones. That is worth a discussion focusing on what is most important: One leg, the last to be added, is defense. When we watch the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians from the cities, towns and villages surrounding the Gaza Strip and along the northern border and the massive and ongoing abandonment of Israeli sovereign territories ("defense zones" saturated with military forces within our own territory), we can definitely call it not only protection, but defense. The second leg is attack. The IDF, Israel's Defense Army, has always been, first of all, an army of offense, of attack. Thus, it was in all of Israel's conventional wars (the War of Independence, the retaliatory actions, the Sinai operation, the Six Day War, the transition to offense in the Yom Kippur War on both fronts, and the two wars in Lebanon), and thus it is in the day-to-day, non-stop counterterrorism activities. So it has been in the face of the unconventional threat (attacks on the nuclear reactors in Iraq and Syria, and, as reported in the foreign media, a series of attacks on important individuals and nuclear facilities in Iran). It is exactly what the IDF is doing today against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and against Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and its proxies in Lebanon and Syria. It goes without saying - heaven forefend that capability is lost or diminished. The third leg required for the stability of the tripod, the one that is becoming more and more important, certainly these days, is moderation. It is very important for strengthening the national-social cohesion and resilience in the domestic arena to reinforce national unity, which almost completely collapsed and is being rebuilt (or so one would like to hope...). It is also required for the patience of civilians and the economic capabilities required for prolonged
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