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Israel Escalates Covert Operations Against Hostile Regimes

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IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz (second from right in this file photo): “You almost won’t find a point in time where something isn’t happening somewhere in the world … I’m escalating all those special operations.”Israeli military officials have revealed that their country has escalated covert operations against what it deems “enemy countries.” The officials have further disclosed that Israel has increased its level of security measures for senior officers and military delegations while traveling overseas, in response to intelligence sources indicating that Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon are planning attacks on these types of potentially vulnerable targets.

“You almost won’t find a point in time where something isn’t happening somewhere in the world,” Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel’s armed forces chief of staff, commented. “I’m escalating all those special operations.” Gantz would not offer any specifics of the clandestine operations, but he emphasized that this would be a crucial year in the Jewish state’s showdown with Iran regarding its nuclear program.

This new revelation was contrary to a report in March that the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, had decreased its undercover activity within Iran. The Mossad’s secret operations had consisted of assassinations, sabotage and recruiting agents, all for the purpose of impeding Iran’s nuclear program.

Gantz explained that the military’s Special Forces are ramping up their operations due to apprehensions of a new regional conflict between Iran and Israel, as well as the Persian Gulf monarchies and the United States. In December, the armed forces chief of staff revealed that Israel had put together a Special Forces command dedicated to implementing strategic strikes deep inside enemy territory. Known as the “Depth Corps,” the new unit is directed by Major General Shai Avital, who previously ran the IDF’s elite Sayaret Metkal unit.

The new corps will incorporate elite commando units into a single unit. These include Sarayet Metkal; the Israeli navy’s Flotilla 13, which is equivalent to the U.S. Navy’s SEALs; the air force’s Shaldag target designation unit, and other specialized units. All of these groups will work together on operations “beyond the immediate and intermediate circles of enemy states, to the so-called outer circle of threats.” According to military sources, this “outer circle” encompasses the Horn of Africa and other zones around the Middle East where Iranian, Palestinian and al-Qaida groups operate.

A senior Israeli officer stated that the Deep Corps will be operating under a new military concept known as “the operational arena between wars.” This phrase apparently refers to deep-penetration reconnaissance, counter-terror, assassination and sabotage missions inside hostile areas. “Before all these changes in the region, the Israeli military fluctuated between planning for war and fighting wars in parallel to our routine anti-terror operations,” the senior officer explained. “But in the new reality, we understand that there’s also a war between wars … and this is much more quiet and extends to much wider circles.”

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