The IDF spokesperson’s Unit engaged in censorship when its announcement about a farewell ceremony to the outgoing head of the IDF Personnel Directorate Major General Yaniv Asor omitted Asor’s criticism of the IDF General Staff for its “blindness” and conceptual failures.
Unlike previous ceremonies for the replacement of the head of the IDF’s human resources division, this ceremony was closed to media coverage.
During his address at the ceremony on Monday, Asor criticized the lack of diversity in the General Staff, possibly relating to the fact that most of the recent Chiefs of Staff and their deputies came from the Paratrooper Brigade.
“The human diversity in every unit, corps, and branch – from the recruit base to the General Staff – this diversity is critical to the success of our missions,” he said. “Excessive homogeneity carries with it the danger of mental fixation, of tunnel vision. After all, the concept and the blind spots have caused what we are dealing with.”
Asor was relating to the conceptual failure that led the IDF to believe that the Hamas terror organization was deterred by its 2014 losses, and satisfied with the financial perks with which Israel was plying it, and would therefore not attack, leading to the surprise of October 7.
Army Radio reporter Doron Kadosh published the criticism voiced by Asor who said that for over 400 days, since the outbreak of the war, the IDF had been working to restore Israelis’ trust in the military after its disaster during the October 7 attack.
“First of all, trust is based on successes on the battlefield, but also on the realization of the responsibility that is placed on the heads of the army. By their very role, in conducting in-depth investigations, in examining failures in depth, in drawing lessons and implementing them,” Asor said in the censored part of his speech.
“I have plowed the length and breadth of the country. I have met Israeli society in all its diversity everywhere – in medical centers, rehabs, funerals, and the families of the fallen. I have seen unparalleled strength of spirit and mutual guarantee,” said Major General Asor, adding that everyone had the same wish: “Do not stop the war so that our deaths, injuries, and pain won’t be in vain. Do not stop until victory.”
According to Asor, the people of Israel want their army to be “proactive and offensive, cunning and daring, ready to fight, and above all, one that wins. War is lost in spirit and won in spirit – and the spirit pushes us not to break. To continue to do everything, however necessary, to complete our missions.”
The IDF spokesman stated in response that “the claims of omitting quotes are baseless. The quotes in the IDF spokesman’s announcements at exchange ceremonies are selected by the outgoing commander and the incoming commander, as is the case in question. The full speeches are available to the public.”
And that kind of lie was precisely what Major General Asor warned about.
