Hanegbi says Israel safer than it’s ever been

Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi says the newspaper headlines in recent weeks were liable to give the average Israeli reader a “panic attack.”

He says the reality is “more complicated” than it appears. “Since 1967… the strategic status of Israel has improved, and continues to improve.”

Israel is more secure than it was then, he says.

“The map of threats that the State of Israel is facing has changed,” he says. The IDF hasn’t had to fight a conventional army since 1973, he says, due to the Egypt and Jordan peace accords and its increased capabilities.

Eighty-five percent of Israel’s fallen fell in the first 30 years since the establishment of the State of Israel, he says.

Since then, Israel has been fighting terror groups, he says. And the number of civilian casualties from terror attacks in the last decade is the lowest it has ever been, he notes.

The nine years since the Second Lebanon War “are the quietest years” Israel has seen.

He says that Hezbollah “which has immense strength” is distracted by the regional conflict in Syria, and even has forces in Yemen.

Hanegbi says there’s no concrete threat from Syria in the near future.

Still, Israel is threatened by Hamas in Gaza, “it’s clear that if there isn’t a sharp change of policy by Hamas.. this could lead to another operation, perhaps an operation more like Operation Defensive Shield.”

Israel is not interested in this, “but if it happens, it won’t be long” — but will likely exact a heavy death toll, he says.