Senior IDF officer: Chances of conflict are growing

After Naveh warned the IDF must be ready for unexpected threats on multiple fronts, head of logistics warns of armed conflict.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
BATTALION 9 TANKS hold a war drill 370 (photo credit: IDF Spokesman)
BATTALION 9 TANKS hold a war drill 370
(photo credit: IDF Spokesman)
The chances of a “narrow or wide” armed conflict involving the IDF have grown recently, the head of the army’s technology and logistics branch told officers this week.
Maj.-Gen. Kobi Barak told the officers that his task was to “look 20 years into the future to ensure that our logistical concepts are compatible with the developing battlefield.”
He warned that the global economic crisis could have a negative effect on the IDF’s budget. Barak was addressing officers in the North, promoted to the rank of lieutenantcolonel after completing a two-week logistic course at the IDF’s Command and Staff College.
Col. Zvika Gefen, who headed the course, said one of the central challenges facing officers was the increasingly unstable arena in the Middle East.
Last week, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh warned that for the first time in years, Israel must be ready for unexpected security developments on multiple fronts.
“We will have to be flexible and responsible in following the changes in the entire area,” Naveh told 375 new army officers during a ceremony held at Mitzpe Ramon.
Addressing the Iranian threat, Naveh said, “Far off in the East, leaders are making threats without shame at 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 residents in the South come under fire on occasion as part of the same conflict, “due to hatred of Israel alone.”