Israel is preparing for possible war with Hezbollah

Senior sources in Israel have revealed that the army’s northern command is preparing for a potentially fierce war with Hezbollah. The conflict, if it happens, said Today’s Opinion online on Sunday, might be far bloodier than that in 2006.

The news came just five days after the outgoing chief of the Israeli army’s home front, Eyal Eisenberg, said that, “Israel would be hit by up to 1,500 rockets a day in a future Hezbollah conflict.”

According to the sources, a future confrontation with Hezbollah would lead to a series of uncontrolled incidents. However, it was stressed that possible opponents in the region, including ISIS, aren’t looking for a fight because they are not ready to face an organised army. Nevertheless, a war this year has not been ruled out.

According to Today’s Opinion, Eisenberg organised a workshop last week under the heading, “What is victory?” The agenda included a discussion of various scenarios for a potential war as well as the proposals for activating all army divisions. It concluded that full force, and then even more force, must be used in future conflicts.

Eisenberg is known for adopting extremist views regarding Hezbollah. He is on record as telling Yedioth Ahranoth that in any future war with the Lebanese Shia movement Israel must deal with all of Lebanon in the way that it dealt with the Southern District. Israel destroyed the south of Lebanon completely in its 2006 war.

Whenever Hezbollah targets the depth of Israel, insisted Eisenberg, Israel will target the depth of Lebanon. He stressed that the Israeli army has the capabilities to deal with any rockets that Hezbollah may possess. “We will be obliged to target villages and houses in the South of Lebanon then,” he said.

“Using unconventional power,” said the Israeli general, “we would target thousands of sites and targets in Lebanon, and Hezbollah recognises this.” As a result, he believes that the Shia group is not eager to start a war.

He recognised that the Israeli home front would face severe attacks, but reiterated that the Israeli army has improved its abilities and the losses of the other side would be massive.

Maariv newspaper said that Eisenberg’s remarks match the bullish scenarios adopted by the political leadership in Israel. However, the Israeli security leadership believes that the ongoing challenges are not military, but political.