Gantz: High Chances for Regional Deterioration, Syria Terrorists Stronger

Local Editor

"Israeli" Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz warned Monday that "the chances of war against "Israel" in the visible future are low but there is a high probability of deterioration."

"Not a week goes by, not to say hardly a day, when I don't have to deal with an issue that you didn't even hear about, that could have resulted in a strategic threat," he feared.
Speaking at the 13th so-called annual "Herzliya Conference", Gantz looked ahead to future battles.
"We will need to go into the tunnels of Gaza, into the foxholes and the villages ... We can't only play video games ... it requires physical presence on the ground and that's what we need to prepare our forces for ... We need to make sure we are flexible enough and are able to adapt ourselves to the new situation," the "Israeli" army chief said.

Touching on the topic of the size of the army, Gantz said that the army would be streamlined and made smaller and stronger. "It's not a question of the size of the army but the size of the challenge. We need to adapt the organization to the challenges that face it. We need a faster army, a quicker army, a more lethal army, better equipped, better trained and more suitable in size."
The most important principle, he said, was not to have a "hollow army."
On the threats that "Israel" has to face, Gantz claimed that "the regional changes are constant, they're happening all the time and we must be alert ... The characteristics of these changes are intensifying ... The future is here and we must be ready for it."

He said Syria was "unstable" and dangerous and noted that while terror organizations in Syria are currently fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces."
"The situation in Syria has become exceptionally dangerous. The terrorist organizations are becoming stronger on the ground. We are the next in line. We are liable to be the next challenge of those organizations. Strategic capabilities in the hands of Syria can end up in the hands of the terror organizations, and if they obtain these capabilities, there is a very big chance they can use them against us in the future."

Gantz said that after leaving Lebanon in 2000, "We said the threat might scratch Haifa; and look where we are today. The past seven years have been pretty quiet."

He further hoped that "this quiet is maintained... but if not, we are prepared, and we will know to act with the required force... directly against Hizbullah and its state surroundings.:

Regarding Egypt, Gantz said that Egypt was a "situation in the making," adding that Sinai is "fertile ground for activities against us ... Fertile ground for terrorists. Egypt has an interest to maintain security in the Sinai ... Not for us, for them ... We will do whatever we can to maintain quiet in the area but we must understand that area in a state of flux."

Source: Ynet, Edited by moqawama.org