Gantz postulates 10 notional war scenarios

Ten hypothetical war scenarios that may confront a future Israeli army chief one morning were postulated Tuesday by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz in a lecture at the Begin-Sadat Strategic Studies Center of Bar Ilan University.

1) A precisely-targeted missile hitting the IDF’s General Staff center in Tel Aviv, or a cyber attack disrupting civilian routines;

2) A nursery school blown up; an Arab mob storms an Israeli village;

3) An army patrol runs over a mine along the Golan border and first responders are hit by a rocket. One is a battalion commander who is kidnapped.

4) A notorious jihadist organization strikes on all Israel’s borders. Israel strikes back and Hizballah exploits the mayhem to unleash a rocket attack on Galilee.

5)  The jihadists attack Eilat and hundreds of Hamas terrorists burst through the Erez crossing to hit the IDF’s Gaza Brigade,
Gen. Gantz said he does not believe that any of those scenarios are unreal. The ever-present danger of war, he said, obliges every commander to act resolutely and firmly and have an operational answer ready. “The moment hostilities begin, the hourglass is turned upside down and Israel will pay in blood, literally, for every wasted hour.