The Israel Defense Forces' decision to apply a drastic, almost unprecedented cut to its order of battle will be the subject of many commentaries and analyses in the coming days. Some will say that the IDF is trying to avoid implementing budget cuts by spinning the move in a way that fosters public dread, while others will say that the cuts decided on are adventurous and will lead to disaster.
The simple truth is that this move is necessary, because the times, and the technology, are changing. The defense cuts -- 3 billion shekels ($827 million) in 2013 and even bigger cuts in the next two years -- mean that while the military will have to decrease its expenditures extensively, it will not necessarily have to veer from the path IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz had decided to lead it down when he took office in 2011, long before the national deficit mandated defense spending cuts.
The planned reconfiguration will pave the way for a new kind of military, better suited to meet the challenges it is required to face. The rapid disintegration of the Arab armies in the region has significantly reduced the chances of conventional war, so the military can afford to retire a large number of outdated jets, tanks and weapons, whose maintenance is no longer cost-effective.
The IDF has already determined that the objective in any future war would be the rapid deployment of forces, meant to reach decisive results quickly and minimize the toll a war would take on both the home front and the economy. Outdated equipment would have remained unused in such a campaign anyway, so the IDF is better off using its budget and troops in more effective ways.
You don't have to look too closely to realize that two military platforms have emerged from the planned cuts nearly unscathed -- the Israel Air Force and Military Intelligence. The IAF will have to shut down one squadron and fuse two others together, but that move had already been put in motion, as the corps planned to retire some of its outdated aircraft and replace them with advanced jets, the performance capabilities of each one topping what it now needs multiple jets to do.
Military Intelligence has become the proverbial joker of the modern battlefield, the card that when used at the right moment can determine the campaign's results. Technological advances, especially in cyber warfare -- as part of the lessons learned from the 2006 Second Lebanon War and the "shadow war" waged by the IDF under the radar over the past few years -- have only made the need to invest in intelligence capabilities more poignant.
The need to make intelligence a priority stems from the understanding that solid intelligence will not only allow the IDF to remain war-ready, but it can significantly affect all the moves leading up to and taken during a military campaign, as well as determine its result both on the front line and on the home front.
The overall outline of the planned budget cuts has already been presented to the cabinet. The politicians' responsibility here will not boil down to simply raising their hands in favor of the move, but will extend to truly supporting the IDF and knowing that its ability to weather this revolutionary change depends a great deal on the safety net their patience and unequivocal backing will provide.
At the end of this metamorphosis, one hopes, we will be left with a more professional, quality military, ready to properly deal with the threats we face today and the ones we will face tomorrow.
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