GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 656

Up To The Challenge

Many Fronts

We see in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate that the IDF is working on several fronts, some to contain and some to eliminate threats:

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir convened top military leaders for a multi-arena situational assessment on Monday, the first in approximately two years, the IDF announced on Tuesday.

Zamir is preparing his leaders for fighting on all fronts:

Zamir was said to have told the General Staff Forum, which includes some 30 of the IDF’s most senior commanders, that it must prepare “for a continued wide-scale and comprehensive campaign, while managing a complex and challenging reality that requires multi-arena operations.”

He mentions prevention in key areas in and outside of Israel’s borders:

“We are operating across multiple arenas,” he stated. “We will continue to weaken and prevent Syria and Hezbollah from achieving strategic capabilities and maintain our freedom of action. We are operating in Judea and Samaria and consistently combatting terrorism. Iran and its axis remain in our sights—the campaign against Iran is not over.”

Zamir updated his commanders on the current strategies:

As part of the situational assessment, the top commanders were shown an “intelligence, operational and strategic picture across all arenas,” the military stated, “from the nearby borders to far away regions of the Middle East, including a systemic outlook from Tehran to Gaza.”

He then talked about Gaza which has been a hard war to wage:

According to Zamir, the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is “one of the most complex the IDF has ever known. We have achieved significant accomplishments—Southern Command continues to lead with regular and reserve brigades operating every day in both offense and defense.”

The IDF Chief of Staff sees the coming year this way:

Next year “will be a year of readiness, consolidation of achievements, return to competence and fundamentals and utilizing operational opportunities,” the Israeli military’s top commander declared.

Addressing Iran, Hamas And The Region

Zamir went out into the war zone in Gaza to address the troops there:

On Sunday, Zamir conducted a field tour in Gaza, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, head of the IDF Southern Command, and top officers.

He gave them an encouraging speech:

“You are operating with courage in a war that is as just as can be,” Zamir told troops in Shejaiya in the northern Strip. “Our objectives, and your achievements, will lead to a lasting security shift for years to come.”

Zamir talked that the IDF is making substantial progress against Hamas:

The chief of staff also emphasized that the progress made as part of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” continues to drive Hamas terrorists closer to defeat and may open the door to a potential hostage deal.

He updated the political leadership giving them strategies going forward:

The IDF submitted new operational plans to the country’s political echelon, aimed at amplifying its achievements and deepening its strategic gains in the coastal enclave, Zamir said during the tour.

Then he brought up how significant the Iranian attacks were and why Israel had mount an offensive there:

Israel’s focus returned to the Gaza Strip after Jerusalem, together with the United States military, dealt a decisive blow to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the war with the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s plans to destroy Israel were “not merely theoretical ideas but an existential threat to our lives,” Zamir said after the truce with Tehran.

Zamir brought up what we who understand the tensions in the area already knew:

“In the months leading up to the war, Iran advanced a plan based on massive standoff fire alongside a multi-front ground invasion. All of these plans shared one common goal: to destroy the State of Israel,” Israel’s chief of staff said in his taped post-ceasefire remarks.

He then alluded to why playing defense wasn’t going to work:

“They were not merely theoretical ideas but an existential threat to our lives in this country,” continued the military leader. “We are fighting for our survival with force, and we are taking the fire to enemy territory.”

The Islamic Republic has vowed to rebuild its nuclear capabilities and threatened last week that it was “ready” to deal “even bigger blows” to the United States and its regional allies, including the Jewish state.

In the shadow of the hostage talks Zamir realizes that Iran is still a regional threat as well as a global one. All in all, he is doing his best to make sure that Hamas is eradicated, Hezbollah is contained, the Houthi rebels are defeated, Syria is pushed back from their border, and Iran is as far away from nuclear weapons as can be done. That’s a lot to ask of such a small country, but Israel appears to be up to the challenge so far.