Israeli Security Analyst Erupts: Government "Playing With Our Children's Blood"

An Israeli security expert who recently interrupted a live television broadcast defended his actions in an interview, leveling harsh criticism at the government's handling of the war and warning against what he called excessive reliance on the United States.

Yair Ansbacher, a former combat soldier and security analyst, told the "Davar Rishon" program he felt compelled to speak out. "The Israeli people are conducting an existential war facing the threat of annihilation," he said. "From the moment it broke out, I see how they're wasting our resources, the days, the ammunition and the money. They're conducting a failed war here."

Ansbacher criticized what he described as a disconnect between official rhetoric and battlefield reality. "When they shout 'total victory' while things look different on the ground, they're lying to people," he said, referring to commentary on Israeli television. "Don't lie to the public. Everything is not okay."

He warned against growing American involvement in Israeli security decisions, noting construction of what he called a major U.S.-managed command center in Kiryat Gat. "We're becoming a client state where the Americans are managing the strategy while our soldiers pay the price in the field," Ansbacher said.

Drawing on historical parallels, he compared the current situation to ancient times. "At the end of the Hasmonean kingdom, they opened the door to the Romans willingly, said 'we need you' and we all know how that ended," he said. "The United States is a hegemonic power with its own interests. My interest and yours doesn't concern it."

Despite his criticisms, Ansbacher emphasized he has witnessed what he considers miraculous events during the conflict. "What happened with Iran in the last 12 days is a miracle unprecedented in world history, operationally and mathematically," he said, though he didn't specify details. "The problem is that a leadership without faith is wasting these miracles."

He recounted personal experiences with soldiers. "I ate breakfast with a 19-year-old paratrooper reconnaissance soldier. He made me an omelet. That night I saw him on television as a fallen soldier," Ansbacher said. "This happens every day. And I ask: why? Why didn't we wage preventive war? Because there was no 'legitimacy'? The meaning of the word legitimacy is Jewish blood being spilled."

Ansbacher, who holds a doctorate on modern warfare, directed criticism at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. "The first is Netanyahu because he's the head," he said. "Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are good people with values identical to mine, but they let this happen. They drew red lines all along the way and those lines were crushed one after another."

He concluded with an appeal to the ultra-Orthodox community: "There's a tremendous Jewish community here, a ghetto that needs to be protected. Don't look at me as someone who sees only darkness. Whoever is sitting at the wheel is leading us to a dangerous place."

Ansbecher said he wrote a book about what he views as miracles during the current war but maintains the leadership is squandering opportunities. "I'm not built for politics, I'm too sensitive, but I'll wear whatever is needed so your children will live," he said.