Eldad Regev days before his abduction
Photo courtesy of Channel 1
Ehud Goldwasser - led the doomed patrol
Photo: Ayal Tsarfati
'Kidnapping was inevitable'
Senior officer from Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev's battalion says nothing could have prevented their kidnapping: 'The region was too big, the force lacked the necessary means…. We're training hard now, there is much to improve'
"I don't think the soldiers could have prevented the kidnapping," said a senior officer in the 8110 reserve battalion that sent out Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser on patrol the day they were kidnapped by Hizbullah.
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The battalion is currently undergoing extensive ground training in southern Israel. During a training exercise one of the officers analyzes the circumstances that led to the kidnapping.
"I think that our entire operation concept failed, and I don't know if that's a problem that should be attributed to the military or a policy laid down by the government. The army is assigned missions in specific regions, and that's where it must concentrate its efforts, even at the expense of other regions," said the officer
"It would be difficult to say that there were enough forces in the region. That was also the case in the adjacent regions. It was too large an area and the forces were too small and under equipped.
"The patrol was in order with the status at the time," emphasizes the senior officer. "Goldwasser commanded the patrol in accordance with the regulations I handed down to him. I don't think Ehud could have prevented this from happening," he said.
Rally for return of kidnapped soldiers (Photo: AP)
The officer said that the incident would have likely had a similar outcome, no matter who the soldiers were. With the benefit of hindsight, he said however, lessons have been learned and today kidnappings in Israel's north can be prevented.
The officer offered a grim estimation regarding the return of the captives soon: "Unfortunately in the previous kidnapping the soldiers were not returned so quickly. I assume this is what will happen, if the abductor is Hizbullah."
By the end of the year the battalion is expected to return to operational status.
'Abductees' company fiercly motivated to bring them back'
The officer said that Goldwasser and Regev's company showed particularly fierce motivation and even Tomer Weinberg, who was wounded in the ambush but who evaded capture by Hizbullah, was back training with the battalion."I've never seen motivation like this," said the officer, "the troops know what they're capable of, what they're worth. I don't know if there's any anger or bitterness over the criticism they endured, but it's extremely important to them that people know they're doing everything they can to bring their friends home."
The officer disagreed that the battalion lacked sufficient training prior to the war. However, he said, there are many things we have improved and will continue to improve.
