Veteran journalist and businessman Ido Dissentshik was editor-in-chief of the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv. He was on the director board of the International Press Institute and was chairman of the Weizmann Institute's executive board. Dissentshik served the Israel Defence Forces as a reserve and retired as a lieutenant colonel. He told THE WEEK that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should have resigned after the Hamas attack on Israel. Edited excerpts from an interview:
Q How did Hamas manage to inflict such a blow to Israel?
A Hamas always wanted the annihilation of the state of Israel. It is part of their raison d'etre. Why it happened on this particular day is a different question. They must have realised that they have some sort of an advantage and Israel failed to see what was being planned and prepared. Our country was badly surprised. It was a major intelligence failure and our military reaction was too slow and too late.
Q Did internal turmoil in Israel help Hamas? Was it the reason behind the intelligence failure?
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