This is NOT the IDF that I know.

NOTE:  I've called this fight between Israel/Hamas a sideshow.  I hold to that but the tactical lessons learned are beginning to stack up to a point where this has to be front and center for a military blog.

via Times of Israel.

A group of 30 IDF reserve soldiers notified their commanders that they would refuse to enter the Gaza Strip in M-113 armored personnel carriers, military vehicles designed by the US Army in the 1960s and first used during the Vietnam War

and then this...

Following the deadly battle in Shejaiya, Sami Turgeman, the commander of the IDF Southern Command, said that the army was aware of the M-113′s faults but did not have the means to provide full protection to every soldier entering the Strip.

Just plain wow.

This is not the IDF that fought off several Arab armies.

These are not the warriors that rode into battle in antiquated MBTs and fought the Egyptians to a standstill and then took territory in the Sinai.

I DO NOT KNOW THIS IDF!  This is disappointing.  If these are the type of warriors that are protecting the Israeli nation then it won't last much longer.  I am a supporter of Israel.  My writings should make that clear....but this....this is bullshit.  Perhaps I held the IDF to too high a standard?