Post by Watchman on Jul 18, 2007 10:37:13 GMT -5
IDF Reverting Level of Preparedness back to All-Out War Model
By Amihai Zippor
(IHC News, 17 July 2007) Former deputy head of the IDF’s Northern Command, Major-General (res) Eyal Ben-Reuven, said the army is renewing operational plans for country to country conflict instead of the low-level incidents the security establishment has been facing since 2000.
“The IDF is preparing itself for an all-out war, and this is a major change in the military's working premise following the Second Lebanon War,” Ynetnews.com quoted Ben-Reuven as saying during a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies on Sunday, 16 July 2007.
Explaining the switch in focus as giving the IDF what it needs to combat both, he noted that Israel’s dealing with the Second Lebanon War as if it was dealing with terrorist groups in general was one of the military’s biggest failures of last summer.
However, now that Israel’s enemies have also learned from the damage Hizbullah’s 4,000 rockets did to the northern home front, if war breaks out with Syria, Ben-Reuven said the Syrians “will be willing to take military and civilian hits but will strive to harm the Israeli Home Front in order to gain future achievements in a political process and to further split Israeli society.”
As a result, he said the IDF will have to respond swiftly “In order to neutralize as quickly as possible the strategic areas threatening Israel's soft underbelly.”
Already a major overhaul in the way the army trains has been implemented since last summer.
Several large military exercises have been carried out over the past few months and other drills are planned for the future.
By Amihai Zippor
(IHC News, 17 July 2007) Former deputy head of the IDF’s Northern Command, Major-General (res) Eyal Ben-Reuven, said the army is renewing operational plans for country to country conflict instead of the low-level incidents the security establishment has been facing since 2000.
“The IDF is preparing itself for an all-out war, and this is a major change in the military's working premise following the Second Lebanon War,” Ynetnews.com quoted Ben-Reuven as saying during a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies on Sunday, 16 July 2007.
Explaining the switch in focus as giving the IDF what it needs to combat both, he noted that Israel’s dealing with the Second Lebanon War as if it was dealing with terrorist groups in general was one of the military’s biggest failures of last summer.
However, now that Israel’s enemies have also learned from the damage Hizbullah’s 4,000 rockets did to the northern home front, if war breaks out with Syria, Ben-Reuven said the Syrians “will be willing to take military and civilian hits but will strive to harm the Israeli Home Front in order to gain future achievements in a political process and to further split Israeli society.”
As a result, he said the IDF will have to respond swiftly “In order to neutralize as quickly as possible the strategic areas threatening Israel's soft underbelly.”
Already a major overhaul in the way the army trains has been implemented since last summer.
Several large military exercises have been carried out over the past few months and other drills are planned for the future.