Brig.-Gen. Assad: 'Israel making every possible mistake in war with Hamas'

Israel is making every possible mistake when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war, (res.) Brig.-Gen. Amal Assad told the unofficial civilian probe of October 7 on Tuesday.

The probe was founded by families of those killed on October 7, representatives from the attacked kibbutzim, and civil society groups last month to investigate the events behind the attack. One of the primary goals of the committee, which is composed of legal and security experts, is to initiate the foundation of a state probe, a notion that was shot down by Israel’s political echelon.

Assad, formerly the commander of the IDF’s Lebanon coordination unit, which oversaw IDF operations in Southern Lebanon and coordinated with the South Lebanon Army, said that Israel must not continue to fight without an end goal.

“We are making every mistake possible. You cannot wage a war this way. You cannot fight just to fight, and that is what we have been doing for ten months – fighting for revenge,” he said.

“I don’t know how many hostages were killed because of us, how many hostages we killed, but I think it is an outrage that we started this war without knowing what to do the day after,” Assad stated.

“Even now, we killed [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh. What next? We preemptively struck Hezbollah. Now what? The government cannot only deal with military tactics without a strategy. Sadly, for many years now, we have not had a strategy in this country in any field.”

He questioned the logic behind Israel’s actions since the outbreak of the war, asking what Israel was trying to prove. “Are we trying to prove that we are going to show them? Do we need revenge now? Why? We still have 109 hostages,” he said, adding that they should be brought home “at all costs.”

“A country that is not able to defend its citizens in their homes has no right to exist. A country that does not free its hostages has no right to exist,” Assad underlined.

He said that until October 7, there was too much faith in technology and in the notion that Hamas was deterred, leaving the IDF unprepared for the October 7 massacre.

State's treatment of non-Jews

Assad, who is Druze, also commented on the state’s treatment of the Druze population and of anyone who is not Jewish.

After being asked by the committee if he thought that Israel’s government treated Jews and non-Jews differently, he answered that this was absolutely the case and that he felt that there was a sense of Jewish supremacy.

“When I sit on a panel with [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and hear him speak, I understand that he is a different race and that I am inferior to him. Why? Because I am not Jewish,” Assad said.

This is how all non-Jews are treated in Israel, he added.

Assad also commented on the standard of living and infrastructure for Druze communities, saying that these were not equal to what the Jewish citizens of Israel enjoy.