Israeli PM Expects War Soon in Either Gaza or Lebanon

Tells parliament military is preparing for confrontation

Israeli premier Naftali Bennett has been telling parliament about the Israeli military preparing to attack Iran. Tuesday, he told parliament that they’re also preparing for smaller wars.

Bennett says he expects an escalation soon with either Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, and that the military is preparing for either. These are small neighbors that Israel remains hostile toward, and goes to war with intermittently.

It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility there might be a conflict there, but it’s not clear why either case would escalate at any given time. These wars tend to be popular in Israel for the ruling party though, so they may be wishful thinking.

Israel has brief skirmishes with Hamas in Gaza almost every year. Lebanon is less common, with the last war in 2006. In recent years Israeli incursions into Lebanese airspace are almost all for attacking Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.