Jerusalem: Israel conducted the biggest war exercises with thousands of soldiers, tanks, helicopters and military vehicles, in the West Bank and Golan Hills. The exercises which were conducted in the presence of Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennet and defence forces chief Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, saw participation from the reserve forces, along with the Israeli military. The importance of the Israeli war exercises increases further, given the situation in Syria and Lebanon.
Against the background of the increasing tension in the Middle East, Israel conducted massive simultaneous exercises in the West Bank and Golan Hills region. The exercises which started last Sunday, ended ten days later, on Thursday. The Israeli military announced the exercises after this. The Israeli army informed that even though, both the exercises were conducted simultaneously, the objectives of the exercises were different. One thousand five hundred soldiers from the Israeli reserve forces participated in the activities, held in the West Bank.
The exercises in the West bank were planned considering the possibility of the Lone Wolf terror attacks. At this time, tackling the attackers with the Krav Maga martial arts technique, developed by the Israeli military was practised. The Israeli army informed that these exercises were not explicitly designed to counter Hamas terrorists. The Israeli army indicated that its soldiers and interests in the West Bank, are under threat from other terrorist organisations and armed groups other than Hamas.
While Israel held massive war exercises on the Golan Hills, large numbers of soldiers from the reserve forces participated in the exercises along with the Israeli military. Colonel Ori Levi, a senior official from the Israeli military, said 90% soldiers from the reserve forces joined the exercises on one simple call from the Israel military. Colonel Levi said that this clarifies that the reserve forces will respond in large numbers in a war situation.
The Israel military has started a spate of war exercises in the Golan region. It is said that the increase in the war exercises is in view of the increasing activities of Iran, its affiliated groups and Hezbollah in Syria. Colonel Levi further noted that Israel would have to exert more force in these exercises. After the second Lebanon war, Hezbollah has built its military, and there is a tremendous increase in its weapons arsenal. Levi reminded that therefore, if war is sparked in future, Israel will have to fight a war against the militaries of Lebanon as well as Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of this month, the Israel military held special war exercises visiting Cyprus. These exercises, named ‘Game of Thrones’ saw participation from the Israeli Special Forces and the Airforce. The Israeli military said that these exercises were conducted to get an experience of war, in the treacherous mountainous terrain of Lebanon. This goes to show that the Israeli army is preparing for a big war.
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