Ex-Shin Bet official admits: Israel doesn't have means to rescue all hostages

Former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) senior official Yossi Amrosi was recently interviewed by Yoav Mintz on Radio North 104.5FM and spoke, among other things, about the intelligence and security efforts to rescue Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.

According to Amrosi, "We have already made contact and rescued hostages. In my estimation, there is some intelligence on different hostages, but we do not have the operational capability to carry out the operation and rescue them safely. I understand why we are no longer in Rafah, [but] the hostages may be in Rafah. Where could they be? We do not occupy Rafah and do not have contact with the hostages, which is a great shame. Three weeks ago, the IDF submitted plans for the occupation of Rafah."

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stated that it is a multi-arena campaign. Amrosi agreed and said, "The chief of staff stated that we are in a multi-arena campaign, and sometimes it reminds me of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in which seven different armies, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, tried to prevent us from establishing a state. We are currently in a multi-faceted campaign from Lebanon and Syria, and there were reports that they intend to invade us from Jordan. The plans come from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, [and more]. The entire security system, the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the police are prepared to the full extent of their strength. Let there be no feeling that we are losing or that we are in danger of extermination or annihilation. Not at all. Think positively, we are indeed defeating Hamas, dealing with Hezbollah, and dealing with the situation in the West Bank. Relatively speaking, the situation is good for the Ramadan period."

Amrosi on the extent of Israel's security capabilities 

Amrosi was then asked about the security system preparing for an invasion from Jenin and if Israel's security system is capable of dealing with such a large area.

He answered: "Obviously, it is impossible to reach a situation of zero attacks due to the large number of enemies. You see that the prayer at the Temple Mount ended quietly. In previous years, it was the other way around. The Damascus Gate is relatively quiet, which was the opposite in the past. I remember the riots there. Every night, the security forces do an enormous amount of work. Since the beginning of the year, 700 arrests have been made, which is a 700-thwarted attack. There are hundreds of warnings that the IDF and the Shin Bet are dealing with, and most of the attacks are thwarted."

He further emphasized, "This is a ticking bomb. Yesterday I was exposed in the media to the arrest of a terrorist on the way to an immediate attack in Dheisha in Bethlehem, and how a terrorist was pulled out of a falafel stand. This is the foiling of an attack. Some attacks are planned for a week or two weeks, and some for the next morning. Security forces stop these attacks day and night. The security system is not able to reach zero attacks, but it can thwart the vast majority of attacks."

On the escalation in the North, Amrosi noted, "This explains what I said at the beginning. The campaign is so complex. In the North, the decision is not to unify and end the fighting in the South. Which, therefore, we are not doing."