From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Gallant: We have a ‘better response’ to any weapons our enemies are ‘bragging about’
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responds to Iran’s claims of developing a hypersonic missile, saying Israel will always have a solution to counter it.
“I hear our enemies bragging about various weapon developments, for any such thing, we have a better response — at air, in the sea and on land, with defensive and offensive capabilities,” Gallant says during a visit to the military’s Northern Command amid a major drill.
“We will know how to protect the citizens of Israel, and how to strike our enemies with a crushing blow if, God forbid, they start a war against us,” he says in video remarks.
Gallant meets with senior officers leading an exercise in northern Israel, part of the Israel Defense Forces’ two-week-long “Firm Hand” exercise. The drill is focused on a potential multifront war with Iran and its terror proxies across the Middle East, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
“If Hezbollah makes a mistake and starts a war against Israel, we will hit it hard, and send Lebanon back to the stone age,” Gallant adds.
