IDF reveals new plan to address threat from Iran

With Iranian-backed Islamic terror groups threatening the Jewish state on both its southern and northern borders, the IDF released a new plan to confront efforts to attack Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

The IDF unveiled its new five-year plan of operations, with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi stressing that Israel’s primary strategic threat remains Iranian entrenchment near its borders and its efforts to develop precision missiles with which to attack the Jewish state.

“The situation is fragile in the north and south — and may deteriorate into a confrontation,” warned Kochavi, according to the Algemeiner.

Kochavi added, “At the heart of [security threats to Israel is] the entrenchment of Iranian and other forces in Syria and the precision missile project. In both situations, this is an Iranian-led effort, using the territory of countries with extremely weak governments,” reported Ynet.

In his comments, Kochavi also referred to activities by both the Hamas terror group in Gaza and the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

With regard to Lebanon, Kochavi commented that Hezbollah holds the country hostage and dictates its “security policy.”

“Israel’s central strategic challenge lies in the northern arena,” Ynet quoted Kochavi as saying.

Key features of the new operational plan, code-named “Momentum,” include massive investments in the IDF’s military capabilities, such as beefing up Israel’s mid-sized drone fleet, acquiring large numbers of precision-guided missiles from the U.S., and obtaining more air defense batteries, reported Times of Israel.

Under the plan, IDF training exercises will shift focus to urban combat, as opposed to open fields, which are the traditional venues for military exercises. These drills will simulate fighting in cities and towns, according to the Times, where the IDF believes future conflicts could take place.

While the plan officially goes into effect at the beginning of 2020, the Finance Ministry had yet to approve expenditures to pay for the costly initiative. The spending required for the Momentum Plan represents a significant increase compared to the IDF’s previous five-year strategy, the Gideon Plan.

The underlying philosophy driving the Momentum Plan is that Israel must decisively gain victory in any future conflict as rapidly as possible to prevent Hezbollah from launching a large-scale strike on the Jewish state.

On a practical level, this means being able to strike targets immediately to take out weapons and military assets that could be used to harm Israelis.