(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira - In a speech marking al-Quds [Jerusalem] Day, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened that in the next war with Israel he would open the borders of Lebanon to tens of thousands of fighters from Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq. In effect, Tehran received an open invitation to fight Israel with the "Shi'ite Legion" which was established under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, who is now fighting in Iraq and Syria. Israel has confirmed reports that Iran has established factories to manufacture rocket components in Lebanon. The factories were built at a depth of 50 meters to protect them from air attack. The Iranian military industries in Lebanon are intended to operate independently, regardless of the situation in Syria and if Iran is unable to transfer missiles to Lebanon. The Lebanese newspaper Al Nahar reported that "Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Hizbullah over the development of Iranian rocket manufacturing installations inside Lebanon," and that Israel is "seriously" studying the possibility of "destroying the Iranian weapons factories." The writer, a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center, served as Military Secretary to the Prime Minister and as Israel Foreign Ministry Chief of Staff.
2017-07-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive