Some 34 days ago, a group of terrorists attacked several points on the Israeli-Egyptian border, near Eilat. While the attack was still going on, Security Minister (the term “Defense Minister” does not capture the Soviet/Socialist undertones of the title) Ehud Barak quickly claimed that the responsibility for the attacks rests with the Gazan Popular Resistance Committees. A short time later, the PRC’s leadership was assassinated from the air.

Several hours later, however, the official version of events began to crumble (see here). Even though the IDF claimed the attackers came from the Gaza Strip – nobody explained how, precisely, that happened, and the IDF Spokesman backed down from this claim for a short while – the IDF did not publish the names of the attackers, which it generally does, and there were no signs of mourning in Gaza.

When I published those points earlier, I found myself under attack by a gaggle of Hasbara useful idiots, who claimed that Hamas could have suppressed mourning so as to distance itself from the attack – which is an interesting point, given that nobody actually blamed Hamas for the attack.

So, 34 days later, why were there no mourning huts in Gaza? Because the attackers weren’t Gazans. Quietly and without drawing attention, Yediot Ahronot published yesterday (Wednesday) a report on pg. 13, which says that the IDF’s internal investigation reached the conclusion that all of the attackers were Egyptians or residents of Sinai – and we know the three attackers killed by the Egyptians were Egyptians.

The investigation also claims that the attackers were trained by the PRC, but this looks like an excuse to whitewash the acts of the IDF in retrospect. We have facts: the bodies of the attackers are those Egyptian nationals. And then we have conjecture: that they were trained by the PRC. We have no evidence to support this conjecture, and must treat it as such – and a suspect one. I mean, the IDF has been spouting disinformation about this attack for a month now. Why should we believe what it says without proof? Also, we should remember that a few days after the attack, the IDF killed an Islamic Jihad operative, and then claimed he was responsible for funding the attack. Again, we have no proof for this. It may be the truth. It may be just an attempt to justify an attack on a Palestinian target of opportunity.

So, to sum, the IDF’s position nowadays looks like this: The attack near Eilat, which nearly sent the IDF into a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, was carried out by Egyptian nationals, trained by the PRC and funded by the Islamic Jihad. Now, this could happen – stranger things have; it is commonly heard in Israel that Australian messianic Jews of a heretical sect have once funded the campaign of a secular Israeli politician, who was once married by a Conservative rabbi and who changed his name so that it would sound more American. It could happen – but it contradicts what the IDF so stridently told us about a month ago. Then, it kept repeating the attackers were Gazans. That, afrer all, was the casus belli.

In short, the IDF and Barak – not necessarily in this order; the army may well have been trying to cover for the lies of its minister – lied to our faces, nearly dragged us into a major offensive, all of which took place during a massive social protest which put the military’s budget at risk, and protecting that budget is the army and its minister’s first priority. When the chairman of the Security and Foreign Relations Knesset Committee tried to summon senior IDF and ISA officers, the security minister and the prime minister blocked them from testifying. In a normal country, parliament would create an investigative committee and/or announce the army is out of control; in Israel, it ends with a hidden headline on pg. 13 on a day full of international news, and the army and its minister can count on the fact no one would remember, or make a fuss.

Earlier this week I posted about the cracks in the Barak-Netanyahu narrative regarding the terror attacks near Eilat. A quick reminder: While the attacks were still going on, Barak blamed them on the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, and hours later the IAF attacked and killed the leadership of the PRC. However, there is not a shred of evidence the PRC had anything to do with the attacks, and Barak’s action plunged Israel and Hamas into a new round of hostilities.

Since Monday, there have been a few more reports in the Israeli media, casting more doubt on the official story. Yediot reported on Tuesday (Hebrew) that nameless people in the security apparatus doubt the PRC were responsible for the attacks, and raise an interesting question: If they were responsible, why was the PRC’s entire leadership in the same place?

According to Yediot’s anonymous intelligence sources (bear in mind that such sources should always be viewed with skepticism; by their very nature they cannot be corroborated, and they tend to be unreliable even when speaking openly), the attribution of the attacks to the PRC stems from one somewhat incoherent comment on some Jihadi message board.

Ha’aretz reported on Tuesday (Hebrew) that at least three on the attackers were Egyptian Jihadis. American intelligence sources – the same caveat above applies here – told Globes (Hebrew) that they, too, doubt the PRC are responsible, though they may have had a small role in the attacks.

Two days ago, the IAF attacked the Gaza Strip again – naturally, it does not consider itself bound by the ceasefire; only the Palestinians are, and only them can be blamed for breaking it  – and killed some Islamic Jihad apparatchick. Yesterday, the IDF claimed (Hebrew) that he was in charge of funding the Eilat attacks. Hold on a minute, I’m confused: I thought you said the attacks were carried out by the PRC, and now it’s the Islamic Jihad left holding the bag? As of yesterday, reported Amira Hass in Ha’aretz (Hebrew), there are no mourning tents in Gaza. As of today, one week after the attack, the IDF refrains from exposing the identity of the attackers it killed.

One should note that none of the bewildering array of information comes officially from the IDF Spokesman, but rather from all sorts of “senior sources”. That’s the way the IDF raises a smokescreen, and then, when it is penetrated, rightly say he said nothing official. Lt. Col. Avital Leibowitz was adamant, during a phone call on Sunday, that all of the people involved in the attacks were Gazans; unofficially, the IDF seems to back away from this position.

Despite the ceasefire, the IDF renewed attacks on the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli media – aside from Netanyahu’s mouthpiece, Israel Ha’yom – quietly points that out. This low level of military activity suits barak fine: It prevents a serious escalation, which may deal a blow to the Egyptian peace treaty – the Egyptians have warned the cabinet, it is reported, from a full-scale offensive (Hebrew) – and yet allows the government a distraction from the demands of the #J14 movement.

And if a few Gazans die, who cares?