Hoping For the Best, Preparing for the Worst: IDF Faces Prospect of War in the North - By Orly Gibson -
"You have girded me with strength for battle, brought my adversaries low before me." Psalms 18:40 (The Israel Bible™)
Israel's goal of peaceful co-existence with its surrounding neighbors has not prevented the IDF from taking the necessary steps to prepare for a potential war.
Tensions have been rising on Israel's northern borders with Syria and Lebanon over the past few weeks. On February 10, the IDF shot down an Iranian drone, which had entered Israeli airspace in a clear violation of Israel's sovereignty.
In response to this escalated act of aggression by Iran, the IDF launched several attacks against targets in Iran and Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited the northern border, along with top security officials.
"Our face is turned toward peace, we are ready for any eventuality, and I don't suggest anyone test us," Netanyahu said following the visit.
Numerous IDF officials have been vocal about the high likelihood of an outbreak of war on Israel's northern border, even within the year. This conflict will likely involve a number of neighboring rogue states, including Lebanon, Syria and Iran.
"The year 2018 has the potential for escalation, not necessarily because either side wants to initiate it, but because of a gradual deterioration," Maj. Gen.Major General Nitzan Alon, head of IDF Operations, told Army Radio. "This has led us to raise the level of preparedness."
Any conflict in the north of Israel between the IDF and Iran, Syria, and Lebanon will likely result in battles being fought on multiple fronts. Alon warned that if Israel engages with the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist organization in the north, "Iran won't hold itself back in Gaza. It wants to pay for its interests on the northern border in Palestinian blood."
This multi-front war situation will be felt across every branch of the military and every citizen of Israel, according to IDF officials. With this foresight, the citizens of Israel, and the IDF are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.
"The officers and commanders of the IDF are responsible for providing its soldiers with military tactics and training while LIBI USA is responsible for providing the soldiers with welfare support, as well as social and financial assistance," Dr. John A.I Grossman, Chairman of LIBI USA, told Breaking Israel News.
The month of February was spent by many IDF divisions and brigades participating in large-scale military exercises in northern Israel. The Galilee Division of the IDF underwent extensive training in preparation for a possible conflict with Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.
It is believed that the terrorist group Hezbollah possesses an arsenal of over 100,000 rockets, which have been financed and supplied by Iran.
"Conscripted soldiers, along with reservists, took part in the exercise. They practiced a rapid call up for reservists, as well as operation capabilities and readiness to fight in Lebanese terrain," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
"We will continue to train and prepare to ensure the security of the residents in this region," Col. Manny Liberty, Commander of the 769th Brigade, told Times of Israel.
Preparation for a war in 2018 dates back to September 2017, when tens of thousands of IDF troops participated in a 10-day mock-war against Hezbollah. This exercise called "the Light of the Grain" was the largest military exercise carried out in Israel in the last 20 years.
"Tens of thousands of IDF troops are gearing up for a war in the coming year. We are available to provide the soldiers with any support they may require while undergoing this trying training," said Grossman. "We would like to minimize the stresses and concerns in their lives so that they can be fully focused on their military training."
Added Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, commander of the Aerial Defense Array:
"In the coming weeks, we will train together to face complex and challenging scenarios, which are relevant to the dynamic range of threats that we must be prepares to face."
Defense Report of Iranian Missile Threat Fails to Consider God-Factor - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz -
"Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." Psalms 37:15 (The Israel Bible�)
A high-ranking defense official revealed to the Senate on Tuesday that Iran has fully incorporated a Russian long-range anti-aircraft missile system into its military, seriously upgrading its ability to threaten the US and Israeli military interests in the region. But the general's report failed to take into account divine intervention which has plagued the system in the past.
Lieutenant General Robert P. Ashley, Jr., Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday about Iran's "generational improvement in capabilities," according to Bloomberg News.
In his written testimony, the general identified Iran as a major threat to US and Israeli interests.
"Iran remains a primary nation-state challenger to US interests and security within the Middle East and Southwest Asia," General Ashley wrote in his report. "Iran is engaged in the region's conflicts to further its security goals and expand its influence with neighboring countries, at the expense of the United States and US-aligned regional partners."
Israel is clearly one of those "regional partners" the general referred to. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently discussed the missiles with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a meeting in 2013, Netanyahu hinted that if the S-300 arrived in Iran, Israel would consider destroying the system before it became fully operational.
General Ashley reported that this actually took place in 2016 when Russia delivered the SA-20c, also known as the S-300 PMU, surface-to-air missile system (SAM). The SA-20, a self-propelled land-based system with a 120-mile range, gives Iran "the flexibility of a highly mobile, long-range, strategic surface-to-air missile", General Ashley wrote.
"[Iran] continues to improve its conventional capabilities to deter adversaries, defend its homeland, and control avenues of approach -including the Strait of Hormuz - in the event of a military conflict," Ashley said in his submission to the Senate panel. "We expect Iran's modernization priorities to remain its ballistic missile, naval, and air defense forces, with new emphasis on the need for more robust combat air capabilities."
The potential threat posed by Iran upgrading to the SA-20 has long been known. In 2008, General Michael Moseley, the US Air Force chief of staff, told reporters that Iran's capability to defend itself against air strikes would take a "quantum leap" when it deployed the advanced Russian anti-aircraft system, not only preventing attacks against Iran but changing the regional situation.
"The SA-20 is a big deal," Moseley said at the time. "It is a quantum leap. If you put an SA-20 up against the Washington Monument, you've got about a 100-mile range with that thing - you can engage aircraft as far as Philadelphia."
Though General Ashley's concern is clearly well-founded, Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi, a well-known mystic in Israel, has reassured his followers that the missile posed no threat to Israel. In September 2016, while the system was being installed, Rabbi Ben Artzi reassured his followers that the S-300 that the missiles "will get a virus in their computers, and go crazy."
"They will blow up inside their bunkers," Rabbi Ben Artzi said. "The launcher will blow up underneath them."
A few months later, videos began surfacing on the internet showing precisely that.
In his report, General Ashley also identified Iran's intercontinental ballistic missile systems, with the long-range missiles having a range of over 1,000 miles, as being a source of particular concern. The ongoing missile program, in violation of Iranian agreements with the UN, poses a threat to the entire region. This is being further enhanced by parallel improvements in Iran's naval capabilities.
"Both Iran's regular Navy and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy will field increasingly lethal platforms and weapons-including more advanced mines, small submarines, fast-attack craft, and ship- and shore-based antiship cruise missiles-which further complicate US freedom of navigation throughout Iran's littoral."
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