Lessons of the Oct 7 disaster: IDF creates new reserve division, arms Lebanon border emergency squads

IDF orders 9,000 locally-produced 'Arad' rifles for over $13 million

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The Oct. 7 Hamas invasion was one of the largest failures of Israel’s vaunted security system in state history.

Eleven months later, Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry announced the realization of several steps aimed at countering some of the failures and bolstering the nation's security.

One of the miscalculations pointed out in recent months is the belief that Israel didn't need a large, ground-based army of infantry and armored divisions.

IDF chiefs over the past decade have consistently aimed to make the army more technological and cutting-edge, while simultaneously reducing infantry and tank units and releasing tens of thousands of relatively young reserve soldiers from duty.

According to the argument, thousands of “missing” soldiers would have helped to repel the Hamas invasion and could have eased the burden on reserve forces since then, with tens of thousands of soldiers serving on-and-off stints in Gaza, at the northern border, and in Judea and Samaria for over 10 months now.

On Tuesday, Army Radio reported that the establishment of a new Reserve Infantry Division, to be named the 96th “David’s” Division, is fast approaching.

The new division will comprise 15,000 reservists, most of whom were previously released from active reserve duty after turning 35. So far, 25% of the needed manpower has been re-enlisted, according to the report.

The division will have a flexible mandate to act as a kind of strategic reserve to provide additional border security, especially along the Jordanian border, while also acting as a rapid reaction force to defend towns inside Israel. The IDF soldiers will be recruited into five regional brigades based on their area of residence, and – uniquely among regular reserve troops – be mandated to keep their service weapon in their home.

The five brigades will be based in the Galilee and the Valleys, in the Shfelah (coastal plain), Jerusalem, the Negev, and the Golan Heights. In addition, the division will include the IDF’s first reserve Bedouin battalion, which will have northern and southern companies.

The new division will begin its initial training in November and is scheduled to be fully established and ready for service in approximately one year.

Another measure to address the shortage of manpower and rapid response forces during an invasion is the rearming of 97 emergency squads in towns along Israel’s northern border.

The Defense Ministry (IMoD) and the IDF announced Monday that the director-general of the IMoD, Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir, ordered the procurement of over 9,000 cutting-edge and locally produced “Arad” rifles.

The investment, valued at around NIS 50 million (about $13.5 million), will complement the 5,000 Arad rifles ordered several months ago, which were developed and manufactured in Israel by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI).

As part of a locally-based defense doctrine, many border towns in Israel, including settlements in Judea and Samaria, have armed emergency squads that are often led by professional squad leaders who are either employed by the IMoD or the IDF.

The latest order of rifles will be used to re-equip squads whose weapons were previously taken for various reasons, including in areas like the Upper Galilee, Ma'ale Yosef, Mevo'ot HaHermon, Merom HaGalil, and Mateh Asher.

“Cities like Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, and Ma'alot-Tarshiha, as well as the local councils of Metula, Shlomi, Hurfeish, Fassuta, and Kfar Vradim, have also received comprehensive equipment packages. Each unit has been outfitted with combat and rescue gear, medical supplies, uniforms, and protective equipment,” according to the statement.

“Since the start of the war and as part of our lessons learned, the Ministry has been strengthening the rapid response units that fought heroically on October 7.”

“After rearming the communities on the Gaza border, we are now completing the re-equipment of approximately 100 units in the north with advanced weaponry, including the ‘Arad’ – a state-of-the-art Israeli-developed rifle,” Zamir stated.