“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle…” (Zechariah 14:2)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz presented his predictions regarding future potential dangers at the Israel Towards 2020 Conference at Bar-Ilan University, which began on Sunday.  Although not based on specific intelligence information, he feels it is “not so unimaginable” to prepare for the possibility that a future attack would include an attempt to kidnap an IDF commander.

Gantz’s talk Tuesday morning, entitled “IDF 2025,” examined the anticipated security needs of Israel in the upcoming decade or so.  In his scenario, he estimated that an IDF attachment patrolling the Golan Heights border would be attacked by anti-tank missiles.  The responding jeep would also be attacked, resulting in the capture of three soldiers, including a commander.  The captured soldiers would be taken into Syria by an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group.  Subsequent IDF retaliation would be met with “rocket barrages on the Galilee’s communities. Within a short time a similar terror organization in Sinai will fire rockets toward Eilat, and hundreds of Hamas activists in Gaza will rush toward the Erez crossing and the security fence. At the same time, along the border with Syria, terror cells will attempt to cross the fence and carry out attacks in (Israeli) communities.”

He said, “The morning of the war could open with a missile on the Kirya building [the Defense Ministry’s HQ in Tel Aviv], with a cyber attack on banks, with a mass charge on a border town, or a tunnel packed with explosives that reaches a kindergarten.”

Gantz warned particularly about non-State actors on the stage.  “These organizations, like Hezbollah, possess abilities that countries lack.”

He addressed recent defense budget cuts, as well, expressing his confidence that the IDF could meet its responsibilities despite the reduced funding.  “We are constantly engaged in an extensive streamlining process unprecedented in scope, which has not been done in the IDF for many years. The process is taking place so that we will be able to direct appropriate resources to address future challenges.

“The reduced defense budget accelerated the pace of streamlining,” Gantz continued. “In light of the budgetary constraints, we must act quicker than we expected, and reality still demands that we tie our security to our resources. The IDF understands the national priorities.”

In September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would be extending Gantz’s tenure as IDF Chief of Staff by another year. Gantz presided over the IDF during Operation Pillar of Defense in late 2012, during which Israel responded to continued rocket fire from Gaza by hitting Hamas targets in the region.