IDF completes major drill

YAAKOV LAPPIN

General Staff Headquarters exercise drilled regional commands, branches and functional directorates in the North and along the border with Gaza.

The IDF announced on Thursday the completion of a major General Staff Headquarters exercise that drilled regional commands, branches and functional directorates in the North and along the border with Gaza. The IDF announced on Thursday the completion of a major General Staff Headquarters exercise that drilled regional commands, branches and functional directorates in the North and along the border with Gaza.

“The exercise simulated various scenarios, in which soldiers and officers in regular service and the reserves tested their operational preparedness,” the army said in a statement.

Management of joint combat methods and cooperation between the air, ground and naval forces were tested under a range of scenarios, the army said.

“Multi-arena combat management was also tested, with the support of logistics, intelligence, communications and home front coordination, as was communication between the IDF and the government.”

The army said the exercise was centered on implementing lessons learned from the Second Lebanon War of 2006 and Operation Cast Lead last winter.

“Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi held continuous status assessments and visited various exercise sites. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak also toured certain locations, receiving briefings and taking part in status assessments,” the army said.

“Exercises and training are part of the IDF’s central foundations to improve its readiness. This is the sixth General Staff Headquartersexercise since the end of the Second Lebanon War. These exercises enable us to prepare for all scenarios,” Ashkenazi said on Thursday.

“Israel has no interest in a deterioration in the region, but we are following what is being done closely, being careful to make sure that the military is prepared, deterring and ready,” he said.

Barak said, “The work being done is comprehensive, systematic and deep.”

The IDF stressed that the exercise was planned in advance as part of the annual training plan.