Professional Knowledge in the Security Cabinet: The Need to Enhance It, and the Way to Do So (Amos Yadlin, INSS)

The demand by Education Minister Naftali Bennett to broaden the professional knowledge of the members of the security cabinet so that they can fulfill their duties in optimal fashion is, in principle, correct. Members of the cabinet (as well as the other ministers in the government, which has the authority over the IDF) need a system for learning and keeping abreast of developments in order to make informed strategic assessments and diplomatic and military decisions. The political compromise proposed by Minister Yaakov Litzman and accepted by the Prime Minister and Education Minister is a step in the right direction: the solution to the problem lies in the National Security Council. The NSC is already defined as the institution responsible for preparing, in coordination with the government secretariat, deliberations, net assessments, and operational alternatives, including intelligence analyses. Therefore, there should be an orderly implementation of the existing instructions in the law; there is no need to invent new positions or processes. The Prime Minister can – indeed, must – instruct the NSC to create the mechanism to ensure that cabinet members are exposed to the necessary intelligence, routine strategic assessments, and key national security issues

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