Israel’s north shares a border with two countries. In one country — Lebanon — Israel stayed quiet as the Hezbollah terror group amassed an estimated arsenal of over 100,000 missiles and rockets in the nearly 12 years since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
In the other, Syria, it’s determined not to repeat that mistake.
To that end, Israel has taken a far more aggressive stance toward the entrenchment of Iranian forces and proxies in the civil war-torn country — allegedly striking not only positions along the border but also weapons caches and bases deep inside Syria — even though that policy may mean open conflict with Tehran.
On Sunday, Israeli defense officials warned that clashes with Iran could be rapidly approaching, briefing members of the press about recent Iranian efforts toward a suspected retaliatory strike against military targets in northern Israel in the immediate future in response to recent airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria that have been attributed to the Jewish state.
“Iran is in the process of building a war machine in Syria, and we are determined to prevent it from materializing on the ground,” Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former head of Military Intelligence and one-time national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told reporters on Monday.
To explain Israel’s position, Amidror referred to remarks made by his former boss, the prime minister, at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning.
“We are determined to block the Iranian entrenchment, even at the cost of confrontation,” Netanyahu said. “We don’t want an escalation, but we are prepared for every scenario. We don’t want confrontation, but if there needs to be one, it is better now than later.”
Following the disastrous 2006 war in Lebanon, Israel took only limited action to prevent Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm itself, fearing renewed confrontation with the Iran-backed terror group. As a result of that policy, which put short-term quiet ahead of long-term security, Hezbollah was able to become one of the more powerful armies in the region and Israel’s primary military threat.
“We made a huge mistake in Lebanon. We let Hezbollah amass 120,000 missiles in Lebanon. We will not make the same mistake in Syria,” Amidror said in a phone briefing organized by the Israel Project.
Local authorities in the north of Israel sought to calm residents Monday after defense officials warned a day earlier that Iran may be planning a revenge attack on Israel, including missile strikes on military targets.
No special safety instructions were given to residents of northern Israel, despite the looming threat, but the heads of local governments said they were always ready for any eventuality.
On Sunday, Israeli military officials said Iran may be planning a missile strike on military targets in the north as a revenge attack for reported Israeli bombing runs on Iranian sites in Syria.
On Monday, Channel 2 reported that authorities were also preparing for the possibility of an incursion into an army base or community in the north.
On Monday, Rambam Medical Center in Haifa inaugurated a reinforced command center to serve the hospital management in the event of a missile attack on the city. They were also prepared to transfer patients to a 2,000-bed fortified underground emergency hospital if necessary.
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