Intelligence Head: 170,000 Rockets and Missiles Threaten Israel

by JPost.com Staff, Reuters

Gen. Kochavi says conventional threats have not disappeared even if region is not interested in war, Israel is surrounded by active enemies.

 

Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi. Photo: INSS

 

Israel's ability to deter enemies is strong, but on the other hand, terror is still a challenge, military intelligence head Gen. Aviv Kochavi said on Wednesday during his remarks at the INSS annual security conference.


"We call this period in time the "Era of Fire", in light of the amount of missiles and rockets we face as a constant threat. There are about 170,000 rockets and missiles that threaten Israel," Kochavi said.

"For the first time the enemy now has the ability to hit Israeli cities hard," he commented.
"The state of Israel is surrounded 360 degrees with active enemies. The conventional threats have not disappeared."

Speaking of the challenges of guarding Israel's border's, however, Kochavi said that neighboring countries have little interest in war. 

"The countries around us are busy with themselves, they have less funds to start a war. There is no question that there is a decrease in such threats but they have not given up," he said. 

Regarding Egypt, Kochavi proclaimed "any retreat of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region is significant for Israel."

He also said that Syria had become a vacuum for the Islamic Jihad and that some of the al-Qaida militants going to fight in Syria have bases in neighboring Turkey and can easily access Europe from the NATO member state, stressing that very few countries in the region fully control all of their land and all of their borders. 

Presenting a map of the Middle East marked with areas of al-Qaida presence, Kochavi told a security conference al Qaeda fighters from around the world entered Syria weekly, "but they do not stay" there.

A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment, but Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly denied Turkey is providing shelter or backing to al-Qaida-linked groups in Syria.

Kochavi declined a request by Reuters to give specific numbers, but his spokeswoman said the map showed the relative strength and location of al-Qaida bases, which appeared to be in the Karaman, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa provinces.

"Syria is projecting its conflict to the whole region. Those blotches (on the map) in Turkey are no mistake by the graphic artist and it is a short way from there into Europe," Kochavi said.

The spots on the map signifying al-Qaida in Turkey were together about half the size of the blotch in the Egyptian Sinai peninsula, which Kochavi said was home to about 200 Jihadi militants.

Khohavi added that the cyber world was a great opportunity for Israel's growth but that the threat of cyber warfare is growing significantly and there have been many attacks on the security establishment.



JPost.com Staff, Reuters

Source: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Intel-head-170000-rockets-and-missiles-threaten-Israel-339737

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