The honorable thing to do
The public debate in Israel about the army poor performance in Lebanon isn’t calming as time pass. This is important debate and it should be a tool to examine not only the tactical failures but the security concepts, the decision making processes and the preparation of the army to the war over the years.
Unlike the popular demand I don’t accept the attempts of the army to point the blame to the Prime-Minister and Minister of defense. The civilian leadership provided clear strategic goals and exceptionally convenient strategic conditions to the army to accomplish its operational objects.
I am finding the attempts to link between the amateur management of the logistic and the budget cuts repulsive. In 1952 the Israeli second chief of staff resigned because he didn’t believe that the army can stand the budget cut decided by the government. This was the right, and the only, moral decision an officer can take when he cannot agree with the orders given to him. If the chief of staff, or the head of logistic believed the budget cuts are too dangerous they should have resigned. Not doing so is an act of acceptance of the responsibility.
Another case of famous resignation in the Israeli army is the case of Col. Eli Geva who resigned in the Eve of breaking into Beirut in the 1982 war in Lebanon. Col. Geva assessment was that the orders to break into Lebanon are not moral and will cause unnecessary casualties. When his effort to change the order failed he choose the hard and moral decision and resigned.
None of the army high echelon resigned when they should have - when, as professional officers, they should have known that the army isn’t ready. They didn’t resigned during the war - when, as they claim, the politicians prevented them from wining. Since they didn’t resign when it was the honorable decision they should resign now without it.
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when you resign you shock the system. But that this is always a good thing, I seriously doubt.
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As a side note, I think that Ben-Gurion's decision to cut the budget was the right thing to do for at least two reasons:
1. The national priorities was to spend the money in the immigrants and in building the new state.
2. This was another test to the ability of the civilian government to govern - and Ben-Gurion pushed Yadin to resign and by that to establish to superiority of the elected government over the army.
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