‘We must prepare for conflict on multiple fronts,’ IDF chief of staff says

Israel must prepare for the possibility of a conflict on multiple fronts, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Thursday evening.

Gantz referenced Sunday’s attack on southern Israel from the Sinai Peninsula as an additional concern to the already alarming Syrian civil war and Iranian nuclear threat.

The chief of staff, who was speaking at an event celebrating reserve soldiers, also hinted at possible cuts in the defense budget that would potentially limit funds for reservists’ training and war fighting equipment, vowing to oppose such steps.

He also alluded to the public debate over conscripting ultra-Orthodox and Israeli Arab citizens for military service, saying that it was the duty “of all us, all of the IDF and all of society,” to recognize the sacrifices of “the minority that carries the burden out of a deep sense of service to the state.”