IDF GENERAL PINPOINTS ISRAEL’S SECURITY CHALLENGES

The new Israeli government is facing steep security challenges at home and abroad. We recently addressed them with IDF (Res) Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, on our ICEJ Weekly Webinar. Here are excerpts:

Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi: We prepared a very thorough national security assessment that was presented to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu… We assessed that Israel has four big challenges, some of which might be existential.

The first challenge is beyond our borders, and this is the Iranian threat. Iran is aspiring to nuclear capabilities. It’s still running all these militias deployed against Israel. Hizbullah in Lebanon has accumulated more than 100,000 rockets and precision missiles. Now we see what the Russians are able to do with Iranian UAVs in Ukraine, basically destroying the Ukrainian infrastructure. They are trying to build the same in Syria but with less success, because we keep diminishing their capabilities there. They also are in Gaza, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and in Yemen and Iraq. So, it’s all over the place… The Iranians are trying to build a nuclear umbrella around us, and at the same time equip all these militias. This is not a new threat… But what is new is the fact that we are reaching a critical point where it cannot wait anymore. The Iranians are very, very close to nuclear capabilities. And it’s very clear today to

Israel that the main mission is taking care of the Iranian capabilities.

Now there are two ways to do that. One is Israel by itself, and we are building our capability in a way that we can defend ourselves. But the first option is to try to convince the US administration that they must lead an attack on the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Iran is not only a threat to Israel and the Middle East, it’s a global threat. And Iran now has close alliances with the Russians and Chinese. This is a coalition against the Western world. It is time for the West to realise this.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also has talked a lot about wanting to push peace with Saudi Arabia. That’s a game changer, because Saudi Arabia is leader of the Sunni world, and it would probably mean deals with Indonesia and Pakistan. But the idea is much bigger than that… This Israeli government is going to push for a huge peace deal and to gather a US-led coalition that will deal with this very big threat of Iran and its militias. This is the most important thing this government is dealing with.

The second thing is what’s going on inside Israel’s borders… The Arabs are trying very hard to illegally grab as much land as possible. It’s happening in Judea and Samaria, in what we call Area C, and it’s happening in the Negev and Galilee… And the Palestinians are attempting to completely undermine the personal security of Israelis. It’s not only about settlers in Judea and Samaria, it’s happening in the Negev, in Jerusalem. This government is at least talking about it and pushing forward laws that will bring more security to Israeli citizens.

Third, the Palestinian Authority is starting to collapse. The PA is a very evil entity that funds terror, that tries to delegitimize Israel all over the world, that incites against Israel in its education system, but also it’s a terrible entity for its own people… And it’s falling apart because there is a very good chance that in a year or two, the day after [PA president] Mahmoud Abbas passes, there will be anarchy and civil war in Palestinian society. All the people who might be the next Palestinian leader are arming themselves to the teeth, building their own militias. And it’s clear that the day after Abbas goes, they are going to fight each other. And where it will go nobody knows. This is a big challenge for Israel.

The fourth issue involves Jewish communities around the world. Many Jews are disconnecting from Israel, and are being affected by the delegitimization campaign led by the Palestinian Authority… And it’s affecting Jews. They are distancing themselves from Judaism, from any connection to Israel, some even become anti-Israel, which is crazy. And we’re trying to explain to the Israeli government that… we need a new approach on how to build the resilience of the Jewish communities, and how to encourage Jews to make Aliyah.