Ynet- the paper that seems to feel the need to write nothing but these demoralizing, hyper-critcal, poison pen letters to the nation. No wonder I hear more and more people say to me "I never read Ynet anymore!".

is the COS now .Yes,yes,it wasn't him just before the War,but the soldiers "trained" according to rules laid down by him. Then he was the Millitary tache ,so he knows how to eat with the knife and fork. Is it enough ?

It must be hard keeping your head in the sand all the time. But hey, you're in good company on this talkboard.

B.S. about our so called unpreparedness! Really?? Maybe you're right, maybe Israeli public is THAT stupid...? You know what?- we ARE! Just remembered the Shalit manipulation and the ensuing hysteria.....

There is always a need to improve and learn from mistakes within IDF and other modern armies. However beyond the news-kvetching, IDF remains one of the most powerful armies in the world. IDF:s capabilities have grown in strength considerably since the second Lebanon war in 2006 and the overall military balance gap is growing in Israel's favor.

Despite needs for constant improvements IDF remains one of the strongest militaries and certainly most battle experienced army in the world. IDF:s capabilties have improved dramatically since the 2006 war in Lebanon. What about Israel's enemies? Syria and Iran have large militaries but they are inferior to IDF when it comes to technology, motivation, training and combat capabilites. The same thing goes for Iran's bastard children Hezballah and Hamas whose main strength lies in targeting civilians rather than fighting IDF soldiers face to face. Israel and IDF must never become complacent but the fact remains that IDF is far stronger than any of Israel's foes.

Extreme article. Typical from a narrow minded Israeli, which is hyper-critical of the self. I trained with the German and American military....every army needs improvement, including ours....This defeatist needs to know this, but people like him have always been out there. The Tanks he speaks of could put a 120 MM heat round from a mile away into a sniper's nest..this is not a cardboard cruiser.

How many other nations face anhilation every day? How many other nation's army has to face the odds our army does daily? How many other nation's young men know they have this kind of job to defend their own families, towns, cities, infrastructure against not only surrounding armies much more numerous than they and while facing constant criticism from international organizations, leaders and people? How would other nations respond to the kind of demands put on our young men? We face a world who hates us, and these young men and women are on the front line.

the challenges are huge, one needs strong men behind each uniform. one must look to the past to decipher the next conflict. and that past is here today. june 6 2012, the start of the ugliest war israel has had to fight.. were the lessons learned, many articles have been written about idf shortcomings in that war, do not repeat those, learn from them now. and maybe bring back the old war vets from lebanon who can teach the youg men a thing or two, or three. im sure many will volunteer, i would.

Sam I am green eggs and ham for you Sam...the next one will be war and the Idf will put 2 fingers up at the hypercritical west when it comes to Israel and will take the gloves off......understand this Sam.....whatch this space

The IDF is not one of the best armies in the world, yes they have some excellent units, but overall the army is also full of useless and incompetant people. I have seen for myself some of the bases, especially Julis, where they send all the idiots to do time wasting jobs. The IDF needs a new professional approach and Israel in general needs to realise that the Arabs and Iranians will one day catch up with them... and they need to stay ahead and plan for the future, and they need to hurry.. let us hope that they do

The basics of the idf are there. Israel is so spread between defence and police actions and other issues that it relies on counterattack or preemption to achieve its objectives. When it permits its generals to innovate, counter, it is OK. And it cannot get distracted by casualites even on the other side. So Sharon countered in 73 when it looked bad and some of the leadership was static and was paralysed.It preempted in 67 and won. Likewise in 56. Ashkenazi did a good job in cast lead though barak wanted it to end early and idf avoided big casualties and achieved quiet for 1 year. But peres in the lebanon stopped the idf because of kfar kanna and barak folded like a cheap suit. Liekwise olmert, the worst of the leaders who could not stand the site of broken bodies prevented the idf from changing strategy and sending in huge forces to kill nasrollah and hezbollah- to kill anything that m oved. Led by the right people and allowed to change strategy , it can do well. Bibi, not as bad as others is also disturbingly hesitant. You go, you go even if it cost 5000 lives, finish the other side off. Olemrt, livni, peres, merridor are all weak and if they led israel from the beginnning , there would be no israel. By the way, gantz did not do anything special in the hezbollah war to change things up.

And the Lord said to Abram, Go forth out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and out of the house of thy father, and come into the land which I will shew thee. 2 And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. 3 And I will bless those that bless thee, and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed. This makes the I.D.F. the Greatest fighting force in the world because the God of Abrahan Isac and Jacob is Great!

Abramovich is half right. In Lebanon I, Israel won militarily but lost politically because of extreme Left generals and extreme Left politicians and NGOs who used Assad's Sabra and Shatilla massacre to overthrow Begin. In Lebanon II, Israel lost thanks to extreme Leftists generals who refused to use the IDF properly, and lost politically due to the corrupt trio Olmert, Livni and Halutz. In Cast Lead Israel won militarily but lost politically, because of the corrupt Olmert and Barak as well as extreme Left NGOs. Nothing has changed today: IDF generals willing to betray their own soldiers in favor of enemy agents, think their main job is to do Fatah's dirty work against Jews. The good news is that Israel's soldiers are excellent. Like in every war, the combat soldiers, from battlion commanders and down will defeat the enemy despite the failures of the Leftist generals.

the question.Israel is ready if only to defend itself when push comes to shove. In time of peace when no lives are being lost people tend to let their guard down, but when the sh-t hit the fan they all cane to play. You only had to look at America prior to W W 2 to understand what's going on right now. The old expression "don't wake a sleeping Tiger" can certainly apply here (I hope)

They are a good unit but their duties should be absorbed by the Police and the IDF. They are redundant especially thier command.

The IDF may be good, but don't forget it got some of the world's prized idiots for its enemies and the US for its supporter. If the Arabs in 1967/1973 were half as clever as Hez in 2006, Israel would have been finished. No amount of Golani and Givati and Nahal could have saved Israel. You cannot have a great army staffed largely by weekend warriors

Because her God has fought her battles for her. Look at all the battles she has fought and you will have to concur with me.

this little article have been taylored after the iranian formula. lets talk, keep on talking, give the impression of "progress", or what ever they want to hear, in the mean time complete our arsenal of nukes, or prepare our IDF/IAF for a quick, fatal blow of the enemies. nice chess game if you ask me.

Who was in Lebanon 6 years ago and took part in hand to hand combat. The Hezbollah he came across were just as well equipped with night vision goggles bullet proofed vests and the rest as he was. And as lebanon2 taught us, we will have to go ito Lebanon if we are going to stop the rockets

That includes you SARAH B I AM SICK OF READING ALL,YOUR STUPID MAILS. You don't like the author, thats OK by me (I don't expect you all to know his military background) READ AGAIN THE TWO REFERENCES TO Major Gen. (res.) Prof. Yishai Bar, a religious yeshiva graduate. (There are references to him in two paragraphs ) What he says is known and accepted by many of us in Israel, only those with their heads in the sand for political reasons see things differently.

Weapon integrated battle management solution Enhances the connectivity and coordination of maneuvering forces at the tactical level, increasing its lethality and survivability within the battle group network warfare. with adverts like that (for a radio of sorts!), it has to make you wonder at the pessimists.

...to play with tigers and old expressions you must be trained with quick perception ...

Ynet demoralizing?.What would you say concerning Haaretz?.

1. That the IDF is NOT perfect is not news ! 2. "Folds of fat, little muscle" if true ...workout, ...but as any athlete knows muscle tone and the competitive edge can NOT be maintained indefimitely. 3. " Major-General Yishai Bar, a religious yeshiva graduate, believes that utilizing the IDF in the territories is making the army more atrophied and uglier " Even if ...IF Bar is correct, what ALTERNATIVE to using the IDF does he have in mind? moshe