While the IDF has not responded officially to Hezbollah 'srelease of footage documenting the 2006 kidnapping of IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, senior officers who took part in the Second Lebanon War are beginning to speak out.
"The video (allegedly) showing the kidnapping is part Hezbollah's psychological warfare. We didn't need the documentation to learn the lessons we have already learned (from the war)," said Colonel Dror Platin, who served deputy chief of the IDF Galilee Division during the incident.
(באדיבות ערוץ 10)
Hezbollah video of kidnapping
Platin believes the footage from the July 12, 2006 kidnapping of the reservists is genuine: "We knew most of what is seen in the video. Hezbollah men who were at the scene left a very traceable trail."
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Colonel Platin ended his IDF service about five years ago, and is currently a security advisor. "This move by Hezbollah is part of their psychological warfare," he says. "They've been doing it for years. They've always documented their actions."
When asked about how the images have affected him personally, Platin responds: "It's obviously very hard when soldiers are killed or kidnapped. But you can't turn back time. Only in retrospect people say everything was avoidable."
The video, published on Saturday by the Al Mayadeen network, shows a Hezbollah cell crossing the border into Israel and opening fire on an IDF Hummer from several dozen meters away.
After identifying a hit, the terrorists approach the vehicle. At this point the frame freezes. Goldwasser and Regev cannot be seen in the clip, making it hard to determine if the video is authentic.