JERUSALEM—Inaugurating Gen. Gadi Eisenkot as the new chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned him that "you will not have a single day of grace" due to turbulence in region.
"The Middle East is disintegrating," said Netanyahu. "States are collapsing. An empire with nuclear aspirations is charging into this vacuum," a reference to Iran. "It vows openly to destroy the State of Israel. Joining it are the forces of extremist Islam who are breaking through every crack in the Middle East and bringing their murderous acts to the entire world."
Eisenkot succeeds Gen. Benny Gantz, who led the IDF in its 50-day war with Hamas in Gaza last summer and supervised various cross-border operations during his four-year term. Netanyahu told Eisenkot that the next four years are likely to be even tougher.
Military analyst Yossi Yehoshua wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that the chances of war breaking out on more than one front will be much higher during Eisenkot’s coming term than in recent years. He cited dangers from Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is also seeking to establish a new front opposite the Golan, Hamas, which is rearming in Gaza, jihadi forces in Syria and in Sinai, and a potentially explosive West Bank.
At the same time, said the analyst, the IDF will have to cut back in size in the coming years because of budget limitations and will have to restructure itself to meet the diversity of challenges that can be expected. Some 4,500 members of the regular army have been let go and reserve units have also been cut back. However, the cutbacks have not affected the air force, which remains Israel’s most formidable arm, or its critical intelligence arms.
The most dangerous enemy facing Israel in the near term is Hezbollah, which has some 100,000 rockets and missiles in its armory. Israel came out on top in its confrontation with Hamas this summer, but there is considerable unease at the failure to win a decisive victory that would crush the Islamist organization and prevent it from becoming a threat again.
Gen. Gantz, in his parting address, said some of the combat operations conducted during his term have never been reported "and won’t be told for many years". Said Gantz, a former paratroop officer: "The thin border between national responsibility and operational courage was crossed by our forces countless times, and with greater vigor in recent years." In an evident reference to the increasingly tense relations between the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration in Washington, he said: "When the time comes to face farther challenges, we should extend our hands to allies and ensure that our nation doesn't dwell alone."
Israeli national elections will be held on March 17. Polls show Netanyahu in the lead. It is presumed in Israel that one of his major tasks in the new term will be to mend relations with Washington and restore them to their former intimacy.