IDF exercise simulates ISIS infiltration

An exercise conducted by an IDF brigade last week against a simulated terrorist infiltration into Israel largely measured its coordination with tank units, the air force and local police forces. 

An IDF brigade took part in an exercise last week in Israel’s Negev region, near the border with Egypt, in preparation for a scenario in which Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists from the Sinai infiltrated into Israel, according to a report in Times of Israel. 

The Sagi Brigade’s exercise was to deal with a simulated attack in which the ISIS affiliate in the Sinai, “Sinai Province,” crossed the border on both foot and in vehicles while firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns.

“They were reasonable scenarios that we believe could happen in light of situational assessments we’ve done in the field,” Shachar Nachmani, the unit’s COO, told Times of Israel.

Moreover, the simulation was a “rolling exercise” in which one plausible event led to another.

The exercise not only measured the response and capabilities of the Caracal Battalion, which serves under the Sagi Brigade, but also its coordination with other tank units in the brigade as well as the Israel Air Force.  Local police and security forces from nearby Israeli communities took part in the exercise.

The exercise was conducted against the backdrop of an advisory warning to Israelis against traveling to or staying in the Sinai Peninsula. The “Level 1” alert issued by the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NCCTB) was described as “very high and concrete.”

By: World Israel News Staff