Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brick delivered a sharp criticism on Tuesday evening at the Lev Conference on Science, Technology and Security at Lev Academic Center, accusing past and present defense leaders of ignoring years of warnings about the Israel Defense Forces' war readiness. He said the failures he had identified were reflected in the October 7 attacks and in the current Iron Swords war.
According to a report on c14, Brick referred to a 2018 document he wrote, titled "Brick Report, Ground Forces Readiness for War." He described it as a 250-page report that laid out 15 central issues, which he said showed the army was not prepared for war. Brick claimed former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot "did everything so that it would not reach the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the State Control Committee and the cabinet." He added that if the report had been implemented, "there would not have been the Iron Swords war and there would not have been the biggest pit that happened to the State of Israel."
Brick said he spoke with current Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi eight months before the war, and Halevi told him he had read the report and ordered staff work on the issue. But Brick said nothing changed before the fighting began. He also criticized efficiency measures in recent years, saying privatizing various functions and handing them to civilian companies seriously damaged the army's logistical readiness.
He said "thousands of professional NCOs" were released and fired, leaving no one to maintain equipment. In his view, civilian companies cannot provide an operational answer in enemy territory, and he warned of shortages of professionals needed to service weapons systems and deliver supplies and ammunition to forces in the field. Brick said that over the years more than 200,000 fighters and logistics personnel were cut. He also attacked defense budget priorities, citing the purchase of two new air force squadrons for 24 billion shekels, which he said could instead have funded over one million drones, a missile force, lasers, air defense and even a larger ground army. He closed by warning that unless the budget is properly divided among land, air and sea forces, Israel will not be able to defend itself in the next war.
