Hezbollah threat prompts security for Ashkenazi

Defense establishment fears former IDF chief could be targeted by Hezbollah in revenge for 2008 Mughniyeh assassination.

By YAAKOV KATZ
Ashkenazi looking to the sky 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Ashkenazi looking to the sky 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The IDF has decided to renew its security over former chief of staff Lt.-Gen (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi amid concerns that he could be targeted by Hezbollah ahead of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of the guerrilla group’s military commander.
Ashkenazi retired from the IDF in February and continued to be protected until about four months ago. Several weeks ago, however, the defense establishment decided to renew his security detail amid new intelligence indicating that the former chief of staff could be targeted by Hezbollah.
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It would not be the first time that Hezbollah has tried to target Ashkenazi. In 2010, an Israeli-Arab from Tira was sentenced to five years in prison after he was convicted of spying on Ashkenazi for Hezbollah.
Rawi Sultani followed Ashkenazi to the gym he worked out at in Kfar Saba and passed on information about the chief of staff’s security detail to his Hezbollah handlers.
Hezbollah is believed to be actively seeking revenge for the February 2008 assassination of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, which it attributes to Israel. Over the years, there have been reports of a number of plots that were thwarted to avenge the assassination including an attempt to bomb the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan.