Israel Matzav

Israel preparing for protracted war

Major-General Amir Eshel also said Israelis should brace for a protracted and painful conflict should their forces engage in combat with Hezbollah or its main backer, Iran.

"If Syria collapses tomorrow, we will need to take action to prevent a strategic looting of advanced weaponry," he told the Fisher Institute for Air & Space Studies near Tel Aviv.

"We have to be ready for any scenario, at a few hours' notice," Eshel said.

He assumed fighting could escalate on to three fronts at once and require the Israeli air force to employ "the full spectrum of its might".

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Beset by the more than two-year-old insurgency, Assad has not retaliated for the air strikes.

But some Israeli experts worry his forbearance could wear out - especially if he believes new Russian-supplied air defences will let him fend off his militarily superior foe.

Eshel said the most formidable of the Russian systems, the S-300, was "on its way" to Syria and that Israel could not afford to see its air superiority dented given what he predicted would be the need to hit the other side intensively. 

"If we want to prevail within a few days, we need to use a lot of firepower, and quickly," he said. "Air superiority is critical, and we must contend with a new generation of capabilities."

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Hezbullah, Iran, Syria, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:59 AM