Israel is making "every possible mistake" in Lebanon, Tel Aviv Vice-Rector Professor Eyal Zisser told Ron Kofman and Aryeh Eldad on 103fm radio on Friday during an interview on the subject of the IDF's campaign against Hezbollah.
Zisser pointed to what he referred to as "strategic failures" in the IDF's Lebanon operations, specifically those relating to the country's Shi'ite Muslim population.
According to Zisser, Israel's military pressure on Shi'ite civilians does nothing to harm Hezbollah and only serves to strengthen the terrorist group.
"That only reinforces the message of ‘we [Hezbollah] are the perpetual victim,’ strengthens cohesion, and rallies support,” said Zisser.
He likened the strategy to what he saw as similar policies in the Gaza Strip, which he claimed strengthened Hamas.
The professor proposed that the IDF should instead focus on systemic attacks against strategic Hezbollah targets.
"What needs to be done is to attack Hezbollah, meaning its training camps and its social and economic infrastructure, and not relent," stressed Zisser.
Zisser: Israel dragged into 'war of attrition'
"Today, we have been foolishly dragged into a war of attrition in southern Lebanon," he added. "We are operating just slightly beyond the confrontation line and the border, and are losing soldiers."
He noted that staying in southern Lebanon was not helpful under the current IDF policies, though he emphasized that a withdrawal based on a "deceptive ceasefire" was not to be relied upon.
"There is no point in staying in southern Lebanon if we remain in this two-kilometer stretch alone," said Zisser. "And every week, unfortunately, we count our casualties."
The discussion also turned to Iran's claims of victory amid the current negotiations between the United States and the Islamic regime, which Zisser compared to the claims of former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser after Israel's 1956 Operation Kadesh in the Sinai Peninsula.
He wondered, “If the media claims the goal was to topple the regime, and the regime survived, what could be worse than what they [Iran] endured during nearly forty days of American attacks?”
Zisser addressed the concerns of the Gulf states regarding Iran, saying that the countries "tell themselves that Iran still has very significant power to harm them."
"Iran comes out [of the war] with confidence and a sense of achievement against a US president who has an expiration date," added Zisser.