IDF and IAF week-long drill underway testing military readiness for conflict from northern enemies; Netanyahu and Kochavi tour drills in Golan, Galilee; Netanyahu: I am very impressed by the improvement in readiness… and mainly by the destructive power of the IDF.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is carrying out a week-long, wide-scale military drill in northern Israel that began on Sunday. The drill is focusing on the preparedness of IDF and Israel Air Force (IAF) forces to regional threats, mainly Iranian and Hezbollah. The drills will include IAF aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as IDF vehicles, combat forces, and missile defense units, among many others, in Israel’s northern regions of the Golan Heights, Galilee and Jordan Rift Valley.
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited locations of the drills on Wednesday, meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and other IDF officials. He addressed the current and ongoing threats from Iran and its proxies, warning them against testing Israel’s might. He stated on Tuesday “I hear our neighbors from the north, south, and east threatening us with destruction. To our enemies I say: The IDF has great destructive power. Don’t test us.”
On the drill and IDF forces following his tour, he praised “I am concluding a major, multi-corps IDF exercise in several areas. I am very impressed by the improvement in readiness, by the fighting spirit of the soldiers and commanders, and mainly by the destructive power of the IDF.”
Parallel to the IDF drills, the United States Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that it will deploy an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East amidst heightened threats from the Islamic Republic of Iran and tensions in the Gulf of Oman.
