Max,

"It is a complete failure of Israeli intelligence... in both senses of the word?"

Add in a third...it beggars belief that the Mossad did not know of a 40-page Hamas battle plan document, translated from Arabic to Hebrew, like who the hell did that?

And no one raised an alarm bell, even with multiple Egyptian warnings?

And how can incompetence be the excuse for taking 7-9-11 hours to respond to such an attack?

I mean, if CNN's Dana Bash can put together a series of satellite imagery, which clearly shows Hamas using mock-ups and practicing motorized hang gliders attacks, a full year before Oct. 7th, then either the IDF and the Mossad were asleep at the controls, or something far more sinister is at work.