"It looks quite similar to what happened at that time," said retired General Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council. "As we can see it, Israel was completely surprised, by a very well coordinated attack," he told a briefing with reporters. "This was an intelligence failure; it could not be otherwise," said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, who is now at the Atlantic Council think tank. "They've been planning this for a long time," said former Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata. "Obviously this is a very coordinated attack, and unfortunately they were able to surprise us tactically and cause devastating damage."

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Persons: Israel, Giora Eiland, Gazans, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Amir Cohen, Jonathan Panikoff, government's, They've, Eyal Hulata, Matt Spetalnick, James Mackenzie, Chris Reese Organizations: Israel's National Security Council, West Bank, West, REUTERS, Atlantic Council, National, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, West Bank, Ashkelon, U.S, Sderot, Washington