WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday warned the country’s enemies to “not test” Israel amid concerns that escalating tensions between the United States and Iran could result in an attack on the Jewish state.

The prime minister made his remarks during a visit to a large-scale Israel Defense Forces exercise in northern Israel.

“I hear our neighbors to the north, south and east threatening to destroy us. I say to our enemies: The IDF has an immense destructive power. Do not test us,” Netanyahu said following his visit.

There is growing concern among Israeli and Western intelligence officials that Iran could initiate action against Israel to escalate its feud with the United States and force Washington to the negotiation table, Haaretz reported Wednesday.

Intelligence analyses indicated that Iran is disappointed that it hasn’t succeeded so far in forcing the US to rethink the crippling sanctions it reimposed against the Islamic Republic last year when it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, the report said.

Illustrative: IDF reservists patrolling along the Lebanese border near the Israeli village of Zar’it. (Roy Sharon/Flash90)

After threats and steps Tehran has taken so far to escalate tensions in the region, it could drag Israel into the crisis through one of its proxy organizations in Syria or Lebanon, including the Hezbollah terror group, the intelligence officials said.

On Sunday, the military launched the five-day, division-level drill, which included ground troops, fighter jets, helicopters and a variety of military vehicles, the army said.

The drill was held throughout the north of the country, simulating large-scale warfare. The military said the exercise was part of its annual training calendar.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu met with the soldiers and commanding officers taking part in the exercise.

“I am greatly impressed by the improvements to our preparedness, from the spirit of the soldiers and commanders and primarily from the IDF’s destructive force,” the prime minister, who is also the defense minister, said.

In addition to the exercise in the north, the Israeli Air Force is holding its own large-scale exercise simulating combat on multiple fronts, the army said Tuesday, with the air force’s F-35s taking part for the first time.

The drill, which also began Sunday and ends Wednesday, involves fighter jets, helicopters, cargo planes, drones, air defense units and ground support forces. It simulates simultaneous fighting in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon.

It includes scenarios involving an enemy armed with advanced technology, such as the Russian S-300 and S-400 missile defense systems, a home front under massive missile attacks, and challenges such as damaged runways and disabled IAF communications centers.

The drill is primarily focused on the northern arena, with threats posed by the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and Iranian forces in Syria.

An Israeli Air Force F-35 is seen during an air force exercise, June 2019. (IDF Spokesperson)

Forces were also being tested on their ability to carry out strategic bombings while minimizing harm to innocent people in the vicinity.

“We are training at very high intensity with a challenging, thinking enemy that possesses technology beyond what currently exists in the arena,” a senior air force official said.

The official said the new F-35s provided an added value of “lethality and multi-role capabilities…We did not have these capabilities before.”

President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday warned Lebanon and Hezbollah against launching an attack on Israel at the behest of Iran.

“We warn Hezbollah not to impose Iran’s agenda on Lebanon, and we warn Lebanon not to be a base for attacks on Israel,” Rivlin said during a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem for Israeli soldiers killed in the First Lebanon War.

“We are not eager to fight. But the IDF is alert and ready to respond to any threat and to any scenario,” he added.

Rivlin’s warning came as he remarked on Operation Northern Shield, an Israel Defense Forces operation to locate and destroy Hezbollah tunnels dug under the border that the army believes were intended to be used to ferry the terror group’s fighters into Israel as the opening salvo in a future war.

Hezbollah supporters take part in a rally to mark the anti-Israel al-Quds day in Beirut, Lebanon, May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which Israel fought in the 2006 Second Lebanon War, is part of the Lebanese government. Some Israeli politicians have called for the IDF to treat Lebanon and Hezbollah as a single entity in any future conflict, with a top general warning earlier this month that the country would “pay a heavy price” for allowing the terror group to take root there.

The Israeli military considers Hezbollah to be one of its most significant foes, with a rocket arsenal larger than many countries’ and ample combat experience from its years fighting in the Syrian civil war on behalf of dictator Bashar Assad.

In his comments, Rivlin said Israelis “have never had anything against the Lebanese people” and that the First Lebanon War, which was launched in 1982 to stop Palestinian Liberation Organization attacks from southern Lebanon, “was not a war of choice.”

“Then, as now, it was the terrorist organizations that exploited the weakness of Lebanon, the Lebanese state, to attack the State of Israel and its citizens,” he said.

The president also vowed Israel would continue working to recover the missing remains of Israeli troops killed in the war, after the body of Brooklyn-born tank commander Zachary Baumel was returned to Israel earlier this year after 37 years.

Zachary Baumel. (JTA/Courtesy Miriam BaumeYehuda Katz and [Zvi] Feldman, and bring them home for burial in Israel,” Rivlin said. 

Feldman was in the same tank as Baumel when they went missing during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, while Katz was in another tank that was hit some two kilometers away in the same battle.

The Israeli Air Force is holding a large-scale multi-day exercise simulating combat action on multiple fronts, the army said Tuesday, with the air force’s F-35s taking part for the first time.

The drill, which began Sunday and ends Wednesday, involves fighter jets, helicopters, cargo planes, drones, air defense units and ground support forces. It simulates simultaneous fighting in the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon.

It includes scenarios involving an enemy armed with advanced technology, such as the Russian S-300 and S-400 missile defense systems; a home front under massive missile attacks; and challenges such as damaged runways and disabled IAF communications centers.

The drill is primarily focused on the northern arena, with threats posed by the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and Iranian forces in Syria.

An Israeli Air Force F-35 is seen during an air force exercise, June 2019. (IDF Spokesperson)

Forces were also being tested on their ability to carry out strategic bombings while minimizing harm to innocent people in the vicinity.

“We are training at very high intensity with a challenging, thinking enemy that possesses technology beyond what currently exists in the arena,” a senior air force official said.

The official said the new F-35s provided and added value of “lethality and multi-role capabilities…We did not have these capabilities before.”

The IAF has acknowledged receiving from the US-based Lockheed Martin defense contractor at least 14 F-35 fighter jets of the 50 that have been ordered. These are scheduled to be delivered in installments of twos and threes by 2024.

An Israeli Air Force plane is seen during an air force exercise, June 2019. (IDF Spokesperson)

In mid-2018 the IAF announced that it had used the stealth fighter jet in combat, which it said made it the first air force in the world to do so.

The fifth-generation F-35 has been lauded as a “game-changer” by the military, not only for its offensive and stealth capabilities, but for its ability to connect its systems with other aircraft and form an information-sharing network.

Detractors, however, balked at the high price tag for the aircraft: approximately $100 million apiece (Lockheed Martin says the cost is expected to go down as more countries purchase the F-35).

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

There is growing concern among Israeli and Western intelligence officials that Iran could initiate a provocation against Israel to escalate its feud with the United States and force Washington to the negotiation table, according to a report Wednesday.

Intelligence analyses have pointed to Tehran being disappointed by the fact that it hasn’t succeeded so far in forcing the US to rethink the crippling sanctions it reimposed on it last year, when it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, the Haaretz daily reported.

After threats and steps the Islamic Republic has taken so far to escalate tensions in the region, it could drag Israel into the crisis through one of its proxy organizations in Syria or Lebanon — including the Hezbollah terror group — the officials said.

The report pointed to the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his security cabinet twice this week — a rarity even for normal times. During his transitional government since the April elections and leading up to the September vote, which he called after he failed to form a coalition, the security cabinet has barely met at all for discussions.

The second cabinet meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces is holding two large-scale drills this week in the north, though both were scheduled ahead of time as part of the annual training plan.

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a ceremony at Imam Khomeini International Airport some 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2019. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated since US President Donald Trump last year quit the multi-nation nuclear deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.

Iran on Monday announced that it will surpass the uranium stockpile limit set by the nuclear deal within 10 days, raising pressure on Europeans trying to save the accord.

Hours later, the United States said it had approved the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan — who announced he would be stepping down — said the troops were being sent “for defensive purposes” as the US has blamed Iran for last week’s attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Iran denies responsibility for that attack, as well as for separate tanker vandalism in the region last month it has also been blamed for.

But those developments have failed to tone down American rhetoric, cause Europeans and companies to increase trade to bypass the sanctions, or significantly raise oil prices.