For the first time in years, Israel must be ready for unexpected security
developments on multiple fronts, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh
warned this week.
Speaking to 375 new officers at a ceremony in Mitzpe
Ramon, Naveh said on Wednesday, “The IDF...must be alert and prepared on
a number of fronts simultaneously. We will have to be flexible and responsible
in following the changes in the entire area.”
He added, “From tomorrow,
you are there against all the challenges; you are the commanders of the ambush
on the Lebanon border, you are the commanders of the armored patrols on the
Sinai border, and the commanders [maintaining] an open road on the Gaza
border.”
Addressing the Iranian threat, Naveh said, “far off in the East,
leaders are making threats without shame on every stage, expressing their desire
to destroy Israel. On the Gaza border, we are in a continuous combat situation
with terror organizations.”
He added that southern residents come under
fire on occasion as part of the same conflict, “due to hatred of Israel
alone.”
Naveh described the border with Egypt’s Sinai as one of “active
terrorism” that is costing lives, while the border with Syria is transforming
from a ceasefire front to a frontier with “jihad and terrorism elements from the
whole world.”
The new officers were promoted to the rank of second-
lieutenant, and will serve in the IDF Ground Forces.
OC Ground Forces
Maj.- Gen. Shlomo “Sami” Turgeman said during his speech that in “ground
fighting, the human fighter is the most important element. He is the key
to gaining victory and he is the cause of defeat and failure. Therefore, treat
your people well. They are your main source of power.”
US
Ambassador Daniel Shapiro on Thursday condemned this week’s “outrageous” barrage
of rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.
In a posting on his Facebook page,
Shapiro said that the US “support[s] Israel’s right to defend itself” against
attacks emanating from the Hamas-ruled Strip and conveyed that the US’s “thoughts
are with the residents of the South.”
Eighty rockets and mortar shells
hit the western Negev on Wednesday, one of the most severe rocket barrages on
southern Israel in recent years.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this
report.