Eye on The Enemy: ’’Israel’’ Preparing for Surprising Scenarios on Syrian Borders

Following the riots in Syria and the violent struggle of Bashar al-Assad's regime to survive, the "Israeli" Army hastily conducted across the 130 km-long Syrian border a series of actions carried from Majdal Shams in the north to the borders with Jordan.
 

Among the actions taken were - the establishment of bumps along the fence, clearing the area to expand intelligence gathering capability and placing anti-personnel mines. "We need to prepare for any unpredicted scenario. It would be incorrect to limit our actions to what they order us. We must prepare for any accident that might erupt without previous warning," said a senior officer in the Northern Command.
 

He said that there are enough forces in the Golan Heights who are heavily trained on different incidents, and it will be easy to transfer them to the borders if necessary.

In addition to all the actions, a smart fence was established all along 9 kilometers of the border. The smart fence is supposed to spot infiltrators in several locations selected by the Golani Brigade, commanded by Colonel Eshkol Choukroun.
 

This procedure was urged by the "Defense" Ministry Deputy Director general, Bezalel Treiber, and the fence built is similar to the one alongside the border with Egypt.

It was also decided to move the current security activity from the Lebanese border to the Syrian one, in order to prepare for the possibility of terrorist attacks and attempts to penetrate deep into the "Israeli" territory.
 

"We mostly focused on raising awareness in this quiet area, so if there was an explosion - it shall not be surprising," said the senior officer.

The Golani Brigade is preparing for the possibility of mass demonstrations along
 the border directed by the Syrian regime, similar to what happened during the Days of Naksa and Nakba in order to disrupt the "Israeli" Army operations and to divert global attention from the killing of civilians in Syria.
 

In the light of this and in an unprecedented move, it was decided to purchase crowd-control equipments and to exercise troops to disperse demonstrations as in Judea and Samaria.
 

It was also decided to fix splashing water trucks used to disperse demonstrators, as a preparation of a likely immediate confrontation. Bulwarks were established in pre-selected locations to block the protesters as well.

"We as a country and an army have no interest in igniting a war with the Syrians. The common interest of both countries is to maintain the status quo," explained the senior officer of Northern Command who sought to calm the area. However, he noted that due to the volatile situation on the ground, any mistake can lead to an outburst. He said, "You have to have here means of command and control to avoid mistakes, and to avoid being drawn by provocations as happened during Naksa and Nakba Days.

Draft Dodging to Reach 60% by 2020
Ma'ariv website

Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and "Defense" Committee visited yesterday (Sunday) an army induction center and heard "alarming" data related to the rate of military enlistment given by the head of the "IDF" Manpower Directorate.

The head of the "IDF" Manpower Directorate, warned that 60 percent of the draftees won't serve in the army by 2020, as she called for legislating laws to rein in the catastrophe.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and "Defense" Committee, MK Shaul Mofaz said in a conversation with recruits that "the draft figures presented to the Commission show that the significant motivation to serve in combat units is high. However, I am concerned about the declining overall rate in army recruits which is about 50 percent. "

The head of manpower noted that 41.4% of conscripts dodge the draft and 35% of Jewish women signed a declaration that they are religiously observant- though the army believes that 7% of these are false claims.
 

Yet, the "Israeli" army praised the accumulating number of religious people enlisting in its ranks; this year around 450 religious Jews integrated in Infantry forces and other 650 joined other program services.
 

The manpower directorate announced that it is planning to cut off 5% of the workers in public service in light of a possible reduction of the "defense" budget, and in this framework over 1000 officers and employees will be fired.


Source: Hebrew Newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org