That Hamas was able to plan, reportedly for the past two years, the coordinated terrorist attacks on southern Israel that killed nearly 1,000 Israelis, has to be the result of a massive intelligence failure.
Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is being pressed to weigh in on that point, but won’t.
“I know questions will be asked about whether there was an intelligence failure by the Israelis or by the Americans. There’ll be time enough to look into those questions. But what I want, the Israeli intelligence and the American intelligence to both help the Israelis go after these terrorists, but also to do all they can with our Israeli partners to make sure that this conflict coming out of Gaza, doesn’t extend to the West Bank, or doesn’t extend to Hezbollah, taking further actions in the north of Israel,” Warner told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday.
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It probably is early for the pound of flesh that is to be extracted from the Benjamin Netanyahu government’s intelligence failures.
In the here and now, Warner feels the focus needs to be on providing assistance to the Israelis as they work to clear out Hamas terrorists from Israeli territory and inside Gaza, a densely-populated strip of land bordering the Mediterranean between Israel and Egypt.
“It is absolutely essential that the United States stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally, Israel, against these barbaric actions of these terrorists,” Warner said. “This was not a military intervention by Hamas. This was a gross terrorist action that brutally killed now over 1,000 Israelis, 14 dual-citizen Americans, many being held hostage in addition, the indications of babies being butchered, women being raped, senior citizens, Holocaust survivors, being taken captive.”
Hamas has been in control of Gaza since winning the last elections in the territory, way back in 2006, and then winning a civil war that ousted the rival political party, Fatah, a year later.
Hamas leaders have long resisted any notion that peace with neighboring Israel is possible, with rhetoric emphasizing the position that Israel should be annihilated.
“This Hamas group, which has not represented the Palestinian people in Gaza, is horrific beyond words,” said Warner, adding later that “the time for America, for democracies, for people who reject this kind of barbarity, is now. We need to be amongst the ones who are counted to stand with our allies and fellow human beings against this kind of barbaric activity.”
The day of reckoning for the intelligence community will come at a later date.
“This came as a surprise to the Israelis, and there will be time for appropriate review. How this wasn’t spotted ahead of time, hard questions for the American intelligence community as well,” Warner said.
“But remember, this military activity is still going on. A few hours earlier, Hamas sent hundreds of missiles Ashkelon, we’ve got to make sure, in particular, with our Israeli partners, that this conflict doesn’t extend to the West Bank, doesn’t extend to the northern part of Israel, if Hezbollah were to intervene. Iran’s ties to Hezbollah and Hamas has been extensively documented. I’m gonna have more to say about that as more facts come in,” Warner said.
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Chris Graham
