Doron Kadosh: IDF lying to public about Hezbollah drones

Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh said today (Monday) that the IDF was not being prompt and honest about Hezbollah drone infiltrations of Israeli territory, and that this was a serious breach of trust with the public.

In his statement, Kadosh said that:

"What the IDF does not mention in its response is why in retrospect - when these events were discovered (Hezbollah intelligence drone infiltrations) and investigated afterward - they were not reported to the public."

He noted that this is not always IDF policy: "When the IDF eliminated senior figures, and received confirmation in intelligence debriefings weeks later that the figure was indeed eliminated - they didn't forget to publish a notice about it after the fact, even if delayed. So why is it impossible to report on drones after a delay?"

Kadosh then said that this matter has immediate, pressing ramifications for Israeli citizens: "Tomorrow the IDF is supposed to withdraw from Lebanon, without leaving a buffer zone behind, instead remaining only at 5 controlling points in the area (at the direction of the political leadership, of course). In two weeks, on March 1, the state expects northern residents to return to their homes, and the IDF is telling them that the security situation is good and allows for this. Northern Command Chief Major General Uri Gordin said just last week: "The security reality in the north today is safe."

"So Hezbollah's intelligence drones are not what makes the north an unsafe area to live in, of course, but the important issue here is one of trust. This brings me back to all the incidents of approaches to the fence and frictions with Hezbollah personnel that occurred along the Lebanese border before the war, and every time the IDF took the trouble to explain to me that I was dealing with nonsense and that these were unimportant events. Did an event occur? Tell the public about it. Transparency is not a luxury - it's your duty - for the public's trust and the residents of the north."