Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Avman warned against romanticizing the capture of the Beaufort Ridge and the dangers that lie ahead during a Sunday morning interview with Walla.
Avman served as commander of the Beaufort Ridge when Israel held the area ahead of its 2000 withdrawal, and closed the Lebanon border gate at Metula.
"As a young Golani soldier in ’87, my first operational assignment was in Beaufort. Capturing the ridge is tactical excellence that masks strategic helplessness," Avman said. "From the perspective of the US, Iran and Lebanon are all linked in an ancestral bond. Look at what happens to us during a so-called 'ceasefire.'"
"The US imposes so many restrictions on our use of force, and we compensate for that with tactical operations, which the IDF executes excellently, of capturing territory over hours spent on the ground."
When asked about his fears, Avman said he is mainly concerned about the IDF's static position along the Lebanese border, "with infrastructure that is not suited to this issue."
Avman went on to note that while Hezbollah is now a wounded organization, it still has capabilities.
"What is victory for them?" he asked. "Victory for them is not that they will now capture Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi. Thankfully, we managed to degrade those capabilities over the last three years. But now? They will turn to guerrilla warfare."
What happens in the day after?
Avman also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government's conduct regarding the fighting in Lebanon.
"They have no clue, no compass, about what we want to achieve," Avman said. "What will we say? We destroyed another tunnel, destroyed more infrastructure, put a Golani flag on Beaufort, long live the State of Israel."
"What happens tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? What happens when the soldiers remain there for another week or two? Where are the convoys bringing logistics? How do you provide them with water and ammunition? How do you protect them against IEDs and explosive drones? And that is why the romance of the images from Beaufort will turn, within days, into strategic stagnation," he stressed.
IDF soldiers, northern citizens to pay price
He warned that those who will pay the price of holding the ridge will be the soldiers and Israeli citizens living in the north.
"So after Beaufort, will we reach Nabatieh? And then we’ll also put up a flag in Rihan and say, ‘Wow, we’re back in Rihan after 26 years.’ And after that, we’ll be in Midan? We are in a loop," he said.
"This loop is not a good loop, and therefore, I say the tactical achievement is an amazing achievement, but there is no strategic purpose here, and it will not serve the residents of the north."