Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah boasted on Tuesday that his organization’s military is now stronger even than the vaunted Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The Shiite militia was established in Lebanon by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to push the IDF out of the country and pose a long-term threat to the northern regions of the Jewish state.
In 2006, Israel fought a full-scale war against Hezbollah, and many, including reservists who were called upon to take the field, complained that the IDF was not allowed to make full use of its capabilities and defeat the enemy.
Next time around (and experts believe that will be soon), things will be different, vowed IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Gadi Eizenkot.
“If you look 150 km. around us, you will not find a brigade or corps as strong as these in their capabilities,” Eizenkot told IDF soldiers this week as they completed a massive training exercise simulating a coming war with Hezbollah.
Having analyzed the tactics of Hezbollah and other Islamist militias engaged in Syria’s civil war, the IDF knows that it must become more nimble to counter hit-and-run attacks and the use of offensive drones.
One of the ways it intends to enable ground forces to react more effectively to Hezbollah is by shielding them from terrorist cover fire.
Gideon’s Shield is a new technology developed by the IDF and its partners that will protect infantry, tanks and armored vehicles from incoming heavy mortar fire, which Hezbollah used to great effect in 2006.
The system has been called a “mini Iron Dome,” after Israel’s enormously successful anti-missile shield that protects the southern Negev region from incoming Hamas projectiles.
The following video includes animations of Gideon’s Shield in a battlefield scenario. All audio is in Hebrew.
