Former Defense Minister: Israel’s borders with Lebanon/Syria unprepared for war

In an Army Radio interview, the former Defense Minister MK Amir Peretz, told his listeners, “We have to invest close to NIS 2 billion ($560M) so that we will be prepared on the northern front.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The north is unprepared for an escalation with Iran, should it occur, said MK Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), who served as minister of defense during the Second Lebanon War, on Tuesday. Israel’s main problem, he added, is Iran trying to “incite threats in Syrian territory.”

“A central point is that in the North, we are not prepared from the perspective of defending the home front, we have a lot to do,” he told Army Radio. “We have to invest close to NIS 2 billion so that we will be prepared on the northern front.”

IDF patrols Israel’s border with Lebanon – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

In March, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman made similar comments, saying, “If we want fortifications in the North, there must be a multi-year plan of one billion shekels a year. This is the minimum to bring the north to the level of the south.”

Peretz also discussed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revelation of secret nuclear activity in Iran last night, noting necessary changes that would need to be made to the 2015 accord.


Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Iranian nuclear activity on TV, April 30th, 2018. – Video: GPO

“What do we want to achieve in changes to the nuclear deal? Do we want to cancel the agreement now or do we want to make significant changes that will also extend the period that prevents Iran from dealing with nuclear weapons?” he queried.

“And most importantly,” he said, we have “to try to get clauses that forbid [Iran] from continuing to arm the terror organizations in our region because our main problem with Iran is that it itself is trying to incite threats in Syrian territory.”

United States President Donald Trump said he will likely remove the US from the deal if it is not “fixed” by May 12th, a deadline by which he must sign waivers in order to continue the country’s involvement in the deal.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

 

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Former-defense-minister-Israels-northern-front-unprepared-for-war-553192