Israel’s need to deal with developing threats before they begin having an impact
on the country’s security is growing, OC Israel Air Force Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel
told a Herzliya space conference on Tuesday.
Speaking at the eighth
annual International Ilan Ramon Space Conference, hosted by the Fisher Institute
for Air and Space Strategic Studies, Eshel said that “most of the threats come
to our borders from Iran through various ways.”
Turning his sights to
Syria, Eshel said the country is “falling apart.”
“Today, no one has an
idea of what will be in Syria, and how the country will look. This is
happening in a place with a vast arsenal of weapons, some of which are modern
and advanced, and some of which are unconventional,” he added.
“This
isn’t our backyard – it’s right on our borders. This is a very big
challenge for us. Beyond that, we are dealing with a very wide spectrum of
enemies and threat. From the sub-conventional to the
unconventional.
“From the knife to the nuclear, in shifting
ranges. We are facing very varied weapons, including Western and eastern
arms, and weapons produced locally,” the IAF commander said.
“Spring is a
season that does not exist in our region, and the ‘Arab Spring’ is a term that
certainly does not fit our reality,” Eshel said.
“There are clear
dramatic changes, starting with the lack of sovereignty of regional states,
which leads to exposure to terrorist activities. Borders that were once silent
are affected. States around us are falling apart.”
In the current
regional reality, Israel’s fronts, including its civilian home front, are under
threat from ground-to-ground missiles and rockets, cruise missiles and drones,
Eshel said.
He described space as an arena that provides “strategic
depth” and which “clearly expresses Israel’s quality edge, which must be
safeguarded.
“Our ability as a country in space is central in terms of
our deterrence, and allows us to act in any range, in a continuous manner, and
covertly, without violating sovereignty,” he said.
The world of satellite
sensors is experiencing rapid development, he added.