As dust settles on northern front, Ya'alon urges Israelis to visit Golan and Hermon
Following death of Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper, Ya'alon tells Spain's defense minister Israel is investigating incident, will cooperate with UNIFIL and Spanish officers.
By YAAKOV LAPPINDefense Minister Moshe Ya'alon holds security evaluations, January 30(photo credit: ARIEL HERMONI / DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon visited the 769 territorial division, responsible for securing the eastern sector of Israel's border with Lebanon, and held security evaluations with Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the commander of the Galilee Formation, Brig.-Gen. Moni Katz, and the division commander, Col. Dan Goldfus.He then visited IDF soldiers injured in Wednesday's Hezbollah missile attack, meeting the soldiers at the Rambam hospital in Haifa together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and sent condolences to the families of two IDF soldiers killed in Wednesday's Hezbollah missile attack."It's totally clear that this incident is tied to the Iranian strategy to challenge us, whether from Lebanon, the Golan Heights, or if they can, from the Gaza Strip and other arenas. We, of course, will not allow this, not the harming of soldiers or civilians. We act in accordance with that," he said."The Northern Command is prepared and alert to every possibility, even if we see that the current escalation is apparently behind us. We are ready and alert on the Lebanese border, on the border on the Golan Heights, and every other place," the defense minister added.Ya'alon encouraged Israelis to visit the Golan and Hermon over the weekend and maintain a normal routine.Ya'alon also spoke with his Spanish counterpart on Friday following the death of a Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper on Wednesday in IDF return fire launched in response to the Hezbollah cross-border missile strike.He sent condolences to Spain's defense minister, Pedro Morenes, and to the peacekeepers' family.Israel is investigating the incident and will cooperate with UNIFIL and Spanish officers, Ya'alon said, adding that the IDF responded to the Hezbollah terror attack, and that the peacekeeper's post was situated in between Hezbollah and Israel."I highly appreciate the presence of Spanish soldiers in the territory as part of the UNIFIL force, and the readiness of the government in Spain to be a partner to the effort to bring stability to the area," Ya'alon said.
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