The Israeli Defense Forces is conducting a wide-scale military exercise simulating battle scenarios on various fronts, although focusing primarily on the country’s northern border.
“The aim of the exercise is to improve the IDF’s offensive capabilities at all the echelons while implementing the Victory concept and generating new procedures between key headquarters,” said the army’s Spokesperson’s Unit.
The drill, dubbed “Lethal Arrow,” was pre-planned as part of the Israeli military’s 2020 training schedule, and is expected to end on Thursday afternoon.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi has cautioned the nation’s troops against becoming complacent due to relative calm.
“This feeling of “there are no operations” is a very big mistake,” he said during remarks to the IDF Paratroopers Brigade, explaining that Israel had gone 11 years without war after 1956 until unexpected attacks by Arab armies in 1967.
Speaking about the possibility of war, the top Israeli military chief observed that, “the greatest illusion is that it will occur in the future.” Warning that “it always breaks out as a surprise,” Lt. Gen. Kochavi warned that the nation’s armed forces must always be prepared as if the next conflict could “happen tomorrow.”