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In a year-end interview, Gadi Eizenkot, Israel’s chief of general staff, told Mishpacha and a group of senior military correspondents that Israel is preparing for war with Iran in the north, but a clash with Hamas in Gaza may come sooner.

Eizenkot, who was appointed in 2015 and is nearing the end of his term, said Iran is preparing a retaliatory attack for the more than 200 Israeli strikes on Iranian assets in Syria since mid-2017. The lieutenant general said Israel has never been more prepared for a clash.

“The army’s current power is greater than at any other time in the past,” Eizenkot said in a phone interview. “Combat strategies, the quality of intelligence, the scope of precision weaponry, training and exercises, along with the inventory of spare parts, are better than they were in previous years.”

Regarding Hamas, Eizenkot said Israel is closer to a military escalation than an agreement with the terror group that runs the Gaza Strip, because of Hamas’s precarious financial position. He said the army has urged the government to come to a political agreement with Hamas, but policy makers believe any deal must include the Palestinian Authority and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas.

Iran’s Plans Thwarted

For the first time, Eizenkot revealed that Israel had attacked Iranian assets in Syria more than 200 times since last year. The actions came after Israel received intelligence about planned Iranian weapons factories in Syria that would supply Bashar al-Assad, his allies, and Hezbollah. Iran had also planned to permanently station 100,000 soldiers in Syria, most of them members of Shiite militias recruited by the Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran also hoped to establish air and sea bases, Eizenkot said.

All of this intelligence was presented to the security cabinet last year. After much debate, the army was given the green light to thwart Iran’s plans. Since then, a military campaign of air and missile strikes has prevented Iran from building its bases. In retaliation, Iran had also planned a large-scale rocket attack in May, but Israel managed to destroy most of the Iranian launching sites minutes before the planned assault.

One missile battery that the IDF failed to destroy fired 30 missiles toward an army outpost near Mount Hermon, an attack that gave Israel the opportunity to retaliate forcefully. In the ensuing attack, confirmed by Eizenkot for the first time, Israel destroyed 170 Iranian targets in Syria.

Israel’s military campaign has, for now at least, derailed Iran’s plans to permanently establish its forces in Syria. While Iran thought it would take only a year or two to fully entrench itself there, Eizenkot said there are very few Iranian missiles in Syria today.

Trump vs. Khamenei

Eizenkot also touched on the wider geopolitical situation in the Middle East, the power struggle within Iran, and Russia’s emerging role in the region. According to intelligence information available to Israel’s government, there is a strong difference of opinion among Iran’s top leadership over the country’s activities in Syria. The president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, believes the government should invest its resources in stabilizing the Iranian economy, which has been badly shaken by renewed American sanctions. Rouhani also reportedly holds serious reservations about Iran’s nuclear program and its ongoing conflict with the United States.

In opposition, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, and Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, argue that Iran must not miss the opportunity to establish a military presence in Syria. Khamenei has also raised $17 billion for Revolutionary Guards activities in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen. Israel’s ongoing military campaign, however, has forced Khamenei and Soleimani to channel more financial resources to Syria.

Eizenkot confirmed reports that Israel’s prime minister, along with President Trump, and Russian president Vladimir Putin, have agreed that Iran must leave Syria. But Khamenei and Soleimani stand in their way, determined to establish an Iranian foothold in the country.

Israeli attacks on Syrian soil have generated tensions with Russia, Eizenkot admitted. The Russians claim that IDF attacks in Syria have set back some of the plans of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s ally. Still, Eizenkot confirmed, Moscow was ready to accept the IDF position that Iran must be distanced 80 kilometers from Israel’s Golan border. Moscow agreed to this concession, in part, the general said, because the Kremlin believes Iran will seek to compete with Russia for influence in Syria once the war is over. But Israel is not satisfied with this buffer zone, Eizenkot said, in part because Jerusalem believes that Iran will seek to position its militias (wearing Syrian army uniforms) on Israel’s doorstep. That’s why Israel is demanding that all Iranian soldiers, and all militias operating on behalf of Iran, leave Syria completely.

While all of this is brewing, Eizenkot said Israel has not yet reached a clear agreement with Russia on Iran’s designs to transfer missiles from Iran to Iraq and Syria. This is apparently the reason Israel has repeatedly stated it reserves the right to act against any Iranian military provocation. Just last week, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman hinted that Israel would strike Iranian assets anywhere in the Middle East — and not just Syria.

Syria Back on the Golan

Israel has already detected Syrian government forces returning to the Golan region, Eizenkot said, where Bashar al-Assad has begun to reestablish his control. At this point, Assad’s army controls 70% of Syrian territory. The Syrian army brigades that left the Golan at the beginning of the civil war have returned to the region, and there is an intention to reopen the Quneitra crossing. In addition, Russia has deployed five military police brigades to enforce the agreements between Syria and the rebel groups and to make sure that no harm comes to the Syrian villagers in the Golan.

Eizenkot also revealed that Israel has suspended its “good neighbor” project in which Israel had transferred food, medical supplies, and humanitarian assistance to Syrian villages along Israel’s border. Eizenkot added that as part of the aid program, Israel had supplied pistols and bullets for “self-defense” to Syrian villagers.

Looking west, Eizenkot said Hezbollah, the terror group created and funded by Iran, is attempting to upgrade its weapons network and to convert its rockets to precision-guided missiles. The IDF is working to prevent this upgrade. According to IDF estimates, Hezbollah has been weakened by the war in Syria, in which 2,000 of its fighters have been killed and 8,000 injured. The terror group can field an army of 25,000 men. Hezbollah is also suffering from a severe shortage of cash, after US sanctions forced Iran to drastically slash its funding of the organization. As a result, some Hezbollah men who were stationed in Syria have been brought back to Lebanon.

Interestingly, the chief of general staff also revealed that Israel played a role in crushing ISIS in Syria. “We struck hundreds of ISIS members,” Eizenokot said, but did not elaborate further.

To Draft or Not to Draft?

During the meeting, Eizenkot also touched on the long-simmering debate over the Israeli chareidi draft.

I asked General Eizenkot how the IDF plans to integrate chareidi soldiers into the army when it still regularly clashes with dati-leumi (national-religious) soldiers, prevents the promotions of people who wear kippahs, and advances the careers of people who are identified with Israel’s left wing. Further, I pointed out, the army has also recently cut back on the authority of the military rabbinate.

“If the army can’t handle the national-religious soldiers, how will it manage with the chareidim?” I asked.

In response, Eisenkot said the army has nothing against the national-religious sector; in fact, their involvement is growing. He pointed out the recent appointments of several brigade and division commanders from that sector. Regarding the chareidi draft, Eizenkot was evasive. He said the defense minister had asked the army to present a plan, but in the end, he decided the government was best equipped to author the document.

“I decided that the IDF will not be the one that will lead this issue, but will be a central player,” he told me. “I think that the draft law that was presented to the Knesset is a good law and needs to be accepted, perhaps with certain changes. Ultimately, I’m not the one who decides these things; the politicians do that.”

Eizenkot was similarly vague on who will succeed him as chief of general staff, refusing to utter even one word on the subject. As we go to press, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said he has already chosen candidates to be the next army chief, but has not yet made a formal announcement. Those candidates must be approved by a government committee.

But it is widely believed that there are two leading candidates: General Aviv Kochavi, the current deputy chief of genera staff, and Major General Nitzan Alon. If General Eyal Zamir, the former military secretary of Prime Minister Netanyahu, reaches the final round, it will be perceived as the result of pressure applied by the head of government.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 727)