IDF chief's scenario: Qaeda may try to abduct commander

Gantz presents frightening scenario for future multi-front war with terrorists. 'It's not so unimaginable,' he says

Yoav Zitun |Published: 10.08.13 , 12:19

It will begin when an IDF force patrolling the border in the Golan Heights will be attacked with an anti-tank missile. The army jeep that will arrive at the scene will also be attacked. Three soldiers, including a battalion commander, will be kidnapped into Syria by a group affiliated with al-Qaeda. This possible scenario for a future war was presented by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz on Sunday at the Israel Towards 2020 Conference at Bar-Ilan University

Gantz's scenario was not based on any warnings or intelligence, but he said it was "not so unimaginable."

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In this scenario, the IDF will retaliate to the kidnapping of the battalion commander and the terrorists will respond with "rocket barrages on the Galilee's communities. Within a short time a similar terror organization in Sinai will fire rockets toward Eilat, and hundreds of Hamas activists in Gaza will rush toward the Erez crossing and the security fence. At the same time, along the border with Syria, terror cells will attempt to cross the fence and carry out attacks in (Israeli) communities."

"Simultaneously," Gantz continued, a huge cyber attack will be launched on civilian and military computer systems and false messages will be sent to civilians."

The IDF chief told the conference that such a scenario could begin with a missile hitting the General Staff headquarters in Tel Aviv's Kirya compound, with a cyber attack that will put all traffic lights in the country out of commission or with an attack by terrorists on a border community.

The IDF chief said Israeli attacks resulting in civilian casualties will lead to lawsuits filed against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and anti-Israel protests worldwide.

"The pastoral scenery in the Golan can change in one explosive moment into a field with blood, fire and pillars of smoke. This will require the chief of staff to employ force and determination alongside strategic reasoning. The State of Israel's hourglass will flip over and we will pay a bloody price for every hour of war, which will force us to cut it short," Gantz said.