ONE OTHER POSSIBILITY:
Entropy is inevitable in all systems, whether natural or manmade. When it comes to national security, whether we’re talking about the whole bureaucracy or individuals within the bureaucracy, the trend will be to entropy. When nothing happens, it’s hard to remain endlessly vigilant. Indeed, even when bad things happen, humans eventually become inured. Constant adrenalin is impossible.
The same must hold true in Israel.
One common pattern is that a few intelligence operatives did sound the warning.... But it was ignored, something management will deal with after the bureaucratic paperwork is filed.
This is the nature of bureauacracy. A low ranking internet security techie reports the start of a suspected attack and asks permission to immediately stop it. He is not given permission. The issue will be on the agenda at the next meeting of the bureaucrat managers.
It could have been stopped when only 2 or 3 were infected. But because the bureaucracy is bureaucratic 50,000 are infected or hundreds of thousands of SSN are stolen.
This pattern happens over and over again, in terroris, in crime, in ordinary busines risk and opportunity.
Call it swamp..call it bureaurcracy.. call it business as usual.
The bigger question is the lack of chatter and failure to detect and prevent the buildup of arms.
The first suggests the Iranians and their proxies have improved their internal security. The second suggests that arms are being supplied with a wink and a nod through the "humanitarian" NGOs and possibly by another government not previously suspected of actively arming Hamas, like Turkey.