Israel preparing to survive annihilation: warns of threat of surprise war and attacks on multiple fronts

 

May 23, 2013 – ISRAEL – A day after the IDF and the Syrian Army exchanged fire in the Golan Heights, Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel warned that Israel must be prepared for a “surprise war” developing. Speaking at a conference in Herzliya focusing on the conclusions of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Eshel stated that “a surprise war can develop today in many forms. Isolated events can escalate very quickly and require that we are ready in hours to act in the full spectrum – and when I say the full spectrum, I mean activating the full capabilities of the Air Force.” Eshel stated that, in the Second Lebanon War, the IAF had employed just a “small amount” of its capabilities, but that in the next war, the Air Force “will need to give 100 percent, in order that our operations will be very quick and powerful.” After Russia said last week that it remains committed to an arms deal with Syria to deliver the S-300 air defense system to the Assad regime, Eshel warned that the advanced platform could change the equation. “The Assad regime invested a great deal in order to achieve the best air defense capabilities that it could buy. Systems such as these are not just an operative threat, they also give a sense of security that can cause countries to do things they would not otherwise do.” Eshel stated that the air defense system represented weaponry “from a completely different generation, which does not resemble what has come in the past.” He added, however, that “there is no system which does not have a solution, the only question is, at what cost.” Eshel stated that Syria was “changing before our eyes. If [the regime] should collapse tomorrow, we may very quickly find its large arsenal scattered and directed toward us.” –Jerusalem Post

 

Israel begins chemical weapons drill: The Home Front Command on Wednesday was preparing for a massive military drill next week, to focus on coping with chemical weapons attacks. The nationwide exercise will drill the civilian population as well as military and emergency services. The exercise was originally scheduled to take place three weeks ago but was postponed due to tension with Syria. The simulation, which is being run in conjunction with the emergency response services, starts Sunday morning as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces a week of national emergency preparedness. Head of the Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said Tuesday that the outbreak of a war, in which Israel would be hit with a “large volume of rocket fire” was a certainty. “Our opponents hold long-range missiles with large warheads and a carrying capacity of hundreds of pounds,” he said. The drill will include preparation for possible missile strikes against Israel, particularly in the greater Tel Aviv area. The first few days will center on protecting civilian populations at public institutions and private households. Two alarms will be sounded on Monday, at 12:30 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., and citizens will be requested to go to protected rooms or bomb shelters and to stay inside for 10 minutes. The drill will mark the first time an entire network of early warning systems will be tested. In addition to sirens, civilians are to receive alerts from various sources, including from cell phones, social networks, and the television. Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan warned Tuesday that rockets raining down on densely populated areas in Israel “are only a matter of time” and could happen at any moment. He referred to the threat posed to Israel by Syria and Iran’s unconventional weapons stockpiles. “The question is no longer will rockets be fired at the large populated areas in Israel, the question is when it’ll happen,” Erdan told reporters during a briefing ahead of a large drill in southern Israel on Wednesday. He said the battles being fought no longer distinguish between the front line and the home front, as missiles and rockets allow strikes far from the battlefield. Israeli jets reportedly struck sites near Damascus twice earlier this month, aiming to stop the transfer of advanced Fateh-110 missiles to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. Although Israel never took official responsibility for the strikes, it has said it will continue to act to stop weapons transfers and an unnamed official even reportedly threatened to topple the regime in Damascus should President Bashar Assad hit back at Israel for any further strikes. Syria, for its part, has threatened to retaliate if it is hit again. Earlier this week, the UK’s Sunday Times reported that Damascus put a number of advanced weapons on standby to strike Israel, should Jerusalem hit targets inside Syria again. According to the report, satellite images show Syria has readied its stock of Tishreen missiles for use against Tel Aviv.  –Times of Israel