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BY ANNA AHRONHEIM
NOVEMBER 16, 2017 16:21
Eisenkot made the statement in a rare interview with Saudi-owned newspaper 'Elaph.'
3 minute read.
Gadi Eisenkot. (photo credit:REUTERS)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot has offered to share Israeli intelligence about Iran with Saudi Arabia, in remarks published in a rare interview with a Saudi newspaper published in London.
“We are ready to exchange experiences with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence information confront Iran,” Eisenkot told the Elaph newspaper, adding that “there are many shared interests between us and Saudi Arabia.”
“Under US President Donald Trump there is an opportunity to form a new international alliance in the region. We need to carry out a large, comprehensive strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat,” Eisenkot said.
According to the chief of staff, the expansion of Iranian influence across the Middle East is a major concern to both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“The Iranian plan is to control the Middle East by means of two Shi’ite crescents,” Eisenkot told Elaph, “the first being from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon and the second across the Gulf from Bahrain to Yemen to the Red Sea. We must stop that from happening.”
Eisenkot, who met with military leaders from around the globe in Washington at the second annual conference of chiefs of staff in October, told Elaph that what he heard from the Saudi representative about Iranian expansion was “identical” to Israeli concerns.
“This is what should be prevented in the region,” he said, adding that “in this matter there is complete agreement between us and Saudi Arabia.”
While Tehran’s nuclear program has been temporarily frozen there is no doubt about the country’s intention to acquire nuclear capabilities. Tehran is not only providing arms to terror groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, but is also transferring expertise, building weapons factories, supplying advanced weapons and investing huge sums in the various militias.
In September a senior IDF officer stated that the Islamic Republic provides some $60-70 million to Hamas in the Gaza Strip,as well as hundreds of millions of dollars more for their militias in Syria and Iraq and Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.
Tehran has also increased its financial support for its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah to $800 million a year, a dramatic boost from the $200 million it used to provide the group.
According to IDF assessments, while Hezbollah has increased its military capabilities due to its fighting in Syria, the group has spread its troops across the entire Middle East and is hurting financially.
“I see Hezbollah beginning to feel financial pressure. We are also seeing a drop in support for Hezbollah and that is reverberating on the streets where we have seen demonstrations in Dahiya. That’s something we have not seen before,” Eisenkot said, referring to Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.
Hezbollah, one of the most prominent terror organizations in the world, has become bogged down fighting in Syria for President Bashar al-Assad. Of its approximately 22,000 fighters, about 7,000 are fighting for the Assad regime and some 2,000 have been killed in the four years the group has been in Syria.
Last week Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of having appealed to Israel to launch an attack against the group in Lebanon, offering the Jewish state “billions of dollars” to do so.
On Wednesday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted by Press TV as saying that “It is very reprehensible and shameful for a Muslim country in the region to beg the Zionist regime [of Israel] to bomb the people of Lebanon.”
“It is unprecedented in history for a Muslim country to take such measures, and this indicates the immaturity of the individuals who have come to power in those countries,” Rouhani added.
Eisenkot told Elaph that while Israel has no intention of initiating a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Jerusalem will not accept any strategic threats that the Iranian-backed terror group might pose to it.
The chief of staff stated that he was hopeful regarding Trump’s declarations about the need to stop Iran’s missile program and the entrenchment of its troops and militias in Syria and Iraq.
“Our demand is that Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian militias leave Syria. We have said it publicly that we will not accept the Iranian position in Syria in general, and especially their position west of the Damascus-Suwayda road. We will not allow any Iranian presence.”
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-C...ling-to-share-intelligence-with-Saudis-514438
NOVEMBER 16, 2017 16:21
Eisenkot made the statement in a rare interview with Saudi-owned newspaper 'Elaph.'
3 minute read.
Gadi Eisenkot. (photo credit:REUTERS)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot has offered to share Israeli intelligence about Iran with Saudi Arabia, in remarks published in a rare interview with a Saudi newspaper published in London.
“We are ready to exchange experiences with Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence information confront Iran,” Eisenkot told the Elaph newspaper, adding that “there are many shared interests between us and Saudi Arabia.”
“Under US President Donald Trump there is an opportunity to form a new international alliance in the region. We need to carry out a large, comprehensive strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat,” Eisenkot said.
According to the chief of staff, the expansion of Iranian influence across the Middle East is a major concern to both Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“The Iranian plan is to control the Middle East by means of two Shi’ite crescents,” Eisenkot told Elaph, “the first being from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon and the second across the Gulf from Bahrain to Yemen to the Red Sea. We must stop that from happening.”
Eisenkot, who met with military leaders from around the globe in Washington at the second annual conference of chiefs of staff in October, told Elaph that what he heard from the Saudi representative about Iranian expansion was “identical” to Israeli concerns.
“This is what should be prevented in the region,” he said, adding that “in this matter there is complete agreement between us and Saudi Arabia.”
While Tehran’s nuclear program has been temporarily frozen there is no doubt about the country’s intention to acquire nuclear capabilities. Tehran is not only providing arms to terror groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, but is also transferring expertise, building weapons factories, supplying advanced weapons and investing huge sums in the various militias.
In September a senior IDF officer stated that the Islamic Republic provides some $60-70 million to Hamas in the Gaza Strip,as well as hundreds of millions of dollars more for their militias in Syria and Iraq and Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.
Tehran has also increased its financial support for its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah to $800 million a year, a dramatic boost from the $200 million it used to provide the group.
According to IDF assessments, while Hezbollah has increased its military capabilities due to its fighting in Syria, the group has spread its troops across the entire Middle East and is hurting financially.
“I see Hezbollah beginning to feel financial pressure. We are also seeing a drop in support for Hezbollah and that is reverberating on the streets where we have seen demonstrations in Dahiya. That’s something we have not seen before,” Eisenkot said, referring to Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.
Hezbollah, one of the most prominent terror organizations in the world, has become bogged down fighting in Syria for President Bashar al-Assad. Of its approximately 22,000 fighters, about 7,000 are fighting for the Assad regime and some 2,000 have been killed in the four years the group has been in Syria.
Last week Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of having appealed to Israel to launch an attack against the group in Lebanon, offering the Jewish state “billions of dollars” to do so.
On Wednesday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted by Press TV as saying that “It is very reprehensible and shameful for a Muslim country in the region to beg the Zionist regime [of Israel] to bomb the people of Lebanon.”
“It is unprecedented in history for a Muslim country to take such measures, and this indicates the immaturity of the individuals who have come to power in those countries,” Rouhani added.
Eisenkot told Elaph that while Israel has no intention of initiating a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Jerusalem will not accept any strategic threats that the Iranian-backed terror group might pose to it.
The chief of staff stated that he was hopeful regarding Trump’s declarations about the need to stop Iran’s missile program and the entrenchment of its troops and militias in Syria and Iraq.
“Our demand is that Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian militias leave Syria. We have said it publicly that we will not accept the Iranian position in Syria in general, and especially their position west of the Damascus-Suwayda road. We will not allow any Iranian presence.”
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-C...ling-to-share-intelligence-with-Saudis-514438
