Much of the criticism is now aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Haaretz, one of Israeli’s leading liberal newspapers, called “entirely responsible” for the failures. Criticism of his leadership will undoubtedly grow as the shock of the enormity of Israel’s intelligence and security failures wears off. Criticism could also be fueled by early reports that Egypt’s chief of intelligence, Abbas Kamel, warned Netanyahu ten days ago, as Perry reported, that something “big” and “worrisome” was taking place in Gaza and that he ought to consider moving Israeli forces from northern Israel and the West Bank, where settlers and Palestinians have increasingly clashed, to the Gaza border.

For the moment, however, many Israelis are depending on Netanyahu to rally the Israeli Defense Forces, protect their security, and punish Hamas for the targeting of civilians and other war crimes. …

Israeli military officials assured reporters today that Israel would examine the causes for what one terrorist analyst called not just an intelligence and security failure, but “the failure of everything.” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, vowed that the army would get to the bottom of its failures. “First we fight, then we investigate,” he said.

[Fair enough, and accountability for failure is one of the key features of a functional self-governing republic. We have lacked that in the US for quite a while now, which contributes to the erosion of confidence in our institutions. But the Israelis are putting their priorities in the proper order now. — Ed]