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Countering the Hizbullah Threat to Israel
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot - While Israel's border with Lebanon has seen 13 years of relative quiet and stability since the 2006 war with Hizbullah, the group has continued to expand its robust arsenal and develop three crucial power multipliers: precision capability for its missiles, a second front against Israel from Syria, and an offensive plan to penetrate Israeli territory, both above ground and via tunnels. To counter the improving precision of Hizbullah rockets, the IDF has attacked missile production plants and stockpiles while taking open and covert action against weapons transfers from Iran. To prevent a second front against Israel in the Golan Heights, the IDF struck deep along that frontier. Most recently, the IDF destroyed Hizbullah tunnels into Israel that they had worked on for over a decade. Today, Hizbullah is capable of launching missiles into Israel on an even larger scale than 2006. Yet Israel's defensive and offensive capabilities have greatly improved, and the IDF enjoys major intelligence, aerial, and ground superiority - enough to ensure victory in a future conflict and make Iran and Hizbullah pay a heavy price. The writer, a former IDF Chief of Staff, is a military fellow at The Washington Institute.