It is inexplicable how Israel could have been so unprepared for a Hamas terrorist attack, given that many intelligence services have a wary eye on the region. Nor is there any rational explanation for the EU's continued support for Palestine in the wake of the terrorist attacks. A spiral of violence could easily emerge that threatens not only Israel but also world peace. These were just some of the statements spoken on Thursday evening's current affairs analysis program entitled 48 Minutes and hosted by Tamas Lanczi on Hungary's public television M1 news channel.
In the program, Jozsef Horvath, security advisor at the Center for Fundamental Rights, Andras Schiffer, lawyer and former member of parliament and Zoltan Lomnici Jr, constitutional lawyer and advisor at the Szazadveg research institute discussed the consequences of the attack on Israel with Tamas Lanczi.
According to Hirado.hu, program host Lanczi was seeking an answer to the question of how the Israeli army could have been so unprepared for the bestial attack.
How could it happen that one of the world's best-trained militaries and one of the world's sharpest secret services, didn't see this coming?
the host opened.
Security advisor Jozsef Horvath pointed out that
this is not only about the failures of the Israeli intelligence, as this region is also being monitored with wary eyes by the American and Russian services, and likely the Chinese, as well.
The host noted that such an action must have been known to at least several thousand people on the Palestinian side, and recalled that merely a week before the attack, the US national security advisor said that the Middle East was quieter than ever.
Lawyer Andras Schiffer called the shortcomings of the Israeli secret service much more than surprising and recalled that for the 40th week, the people of Israel had been incited to protest against the democratically elected cabinet.
Mr Schiffer went on to highlight that
in the last 75 years, there has never been a time when reservists threatened to refuse military service, and the former head of the Mossad made statements openly opposing the government.
"Why do we think that foreign intelligence services are not present in Israel, in the Israeli army or in Mossad?" Mr Schiffer asked, noting that Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners had expressed views explicitly opposed to the US position when forming their government last year. Israel is now totally aligning itself with the West, he said.
Zoltan Lomnici Jr agreed with Mr Schiffer's point, saying that
Israel has the right to self-defense and Palestine to self-determination, and that poverty can be the breeding ground for radicalism in the region.
The constitutional lawyer recalled that a week before the conflict, articles criticizing US policy towards Israel appeared in the Israeli press. He also pointed out that the European Union and some member states had supported Palestine.
These funds indirectly reach Hamas,
he said.
"The cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel has started, which has caught the eye of many Muslim states. There was a very deep domestic political crisis in Israel, which has spilled over into the military," summarized host Lanczi, who also said there was no reasonable explanation why the EU was continuing to provide support to Palestine following the terrorist attacks, when previous aid had been used to procure rockets and weapons.
According to Jozsef Horvath, it must have taken many months of organizing to execute Saturday's terrorist attack, and there are many strange elements to this tragic event. "Anyone who has been in the military knows that no unit is too small to have watch guards posted at night," the security expert explained in connection with the massacre of Israeli army units stationed near the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli armed forces were slow to react after the attack,
he added.
Tamas Lanczi recalled that not only Jewish Israeli citizens were massacred, but also Western Europeans who went there to party at a music festival. In his opinion, Western European countries should condemn the demonstrations praising terror and speak out on behalf of their own citizens who fell victim to it.
Andras Schiffer concluded that
a spiral of violence is in the making, that will threaten not only Arabs and Israelis but also world peace.
Cover image: After Israeli airstrikes, Palestinians move out of their dwellings in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on October 12, 2023 (Photo: MTI/AP/Hatem Ali)
