(Ynet News) Alex Fishman - Israeli Military Intelligence (MI) sees the Middle East as a region gripped by social decay, crumbling politically, and becoming increasingly poor. Many more young individuals will fail to find their place in the Muslim societies, resulting in the rise of many more radical movements around Israel and the spilling by Muslims of a lot more Muslim blood. The Middle East today has no international landlord. There's no single element that maintains the balance, that facilitates international collaboration to preserve peace in the region. Russia is making every effort to increase its influence in the Middle East. The U.S. doesn't make a move these days without coalitions. MI officials speak of four camps in the Middle East that are fighting one another. The first is the radical-Shia axis that includes Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and the Houthis in Yemen. The second axis is the moderate camp - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. The third camp is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood - in Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Syria. The fourth camp is the Jihadist-Sunni one - Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis and their offshoots. Both Hizbullah and Hamas have dropped their rocket-based attrition tactics in favor of offensive, close-quarter hostilities with forces operating inside Israeli territory. The goal is also to create the image of victory and undermine the resolve of Israel's citizens. This change was clearly evident during the course of the summer Gaza war, in terms of the tunnel tactics and the establishment of special units for carrying out operations inside Israel. One concern is the introduction of short-range missiles with large warheads that can destroy structures near the border. Hizbullah has acquired Borkan missiles, which have a range of just 4-5 km. but are armed with a huge warhead.
2014-12-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive