HEAD COMMANDER OF ISRAELI ARMY WARNS
OF WW3 WITH WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION POSSIBLY WITHIN
WEEKS...
Stressing the long term, Commander
Eisenberg warned that the Arab Spring would likely evolve
into "a radical Islamic winter" raising the potential for
"total war in the Middle East" and the possible use of
weapons of mass destruction. debkafile's
military analysts point out that while Gen. Eisenberg's
outlook is substantially credible for the long term, the
events rushing forward in Libya, Syria and Egypt and the
uncertainty in Jordan are rapidly shrinking the foreseeable
time scale to weeks and making his words a wakeup call
1. The "stable regimes" he referred to are a myth: In Egypt
the military rulers are not in control. The latest US
intelligence assessments, as the defense ministry's adviser is
no doubt aware, register dismay over the discovery that the
Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi extremist groups are assured of
a two-thirds majority in elections for the presidency and
parliament, for which the movement for toppling Hosni Mubarak
fought so hard. The military rulers' only hope of staying in
power is to stage a second Egyptian revolution to suppress the
drive for democracy. For now, they are playing ball with the
Islamic extremists, a fact which Mr. Gilead has not revealed.
2. This pattern applies equally to Israel's security
backyard in Sinai, where debkafile's intelligence and
counter-terror sources report that the military rulers in
Cairo have abandoned any attempt to root out terrorists
despite their increasing use of this territory as a
jumping-off base.
Not a single smuggling tunnel carrying arms to Hamas in the
Gaza Strip has been destroyed, contrary to reports appearing
in the Israeli media.
For three weeks, Israel has maintained troops on high alert on
its southern border with Egyptian Sinai and kept main highways
closed to civilian traffic, since being forewarned of a large
Palestinian Jihad Islami terrorist team from the Gaza Strip
lying in wait to strike southern Israel from the Egyptian
border. Egyptian security forces have not lifted a finger to
interfere with their movements.
The supply of arms to the Gaza Strip has since the Egyptian
revolution swelled to an unprecedented volume. It is bringing
to Hamas and other terrorist groups quantities of surface
missiles of greater range and power even than the Grads, which
last month hit targets at a distance of 30 kilometers, such as
Beersheba; F-7 anti-air and anti-tank missiles.
Nonetheless, Gilead referred to Israel's situation as "never
better" and lauded its deterrent capacity in the south.
3. He was just as smug about Israeli deterrence in "the
north," including the Lebanese border facing Hizballah.
4. In Syria, circumstances are so volatile that a war
situation could ignite in hours.
5. In Jordan, the political and security ground under the
throne is far from stable and while domestic unrest has
scarcely broken surface, it could erupt at any time.
6. While Libya was never part of the Arab front line against
Israel, its relevance to Israeli security is growing. Since
NATO launched its operation to unseat Muammar Qaddafi in
March, gunrunning from Libya is rife, channeling large
quantities of Libyan arms by smuggling routes into the Gaza
Strip and Sinai.
7. Iran is fast nearing nuclear weapon capability and missiles
capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
One of the greatest threats comes from the new regime the US,
Britain, France and NATO are preparing to anoint in Tripoli.
Since Qaddafi's departure, the Libyan capital has fallen under
the control of pro-Al Qaeda rebel elements and extremist
Salafis. Their Western sponsors have put their trust in these
extremists changing their spots and embracing moderation and
democracy. This illusion they are liable to replicate in Cairo
and Damascus. Israel would then be beset at all hands by
avowedly hostile Islamist regimes whose ideology obliges them
to wage jihad against the Jewish state.
Commander Eisenberg tried to open Israeli eyes to the real
perils around the corner