Kaplinsky: IDF does not foresee war with Syria this summer

The Israel Defense Forces does not anticipate war with Syria this summer, Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky said yesterday.

"Our best assessment, and my personal assessment as well, is that we are not expecting war with Syria this summer," he told military correspondents at a briefing to mark the anniversary of the Second Lebanon War.

"On the other hand, we cannot ignore what we see: Growing involvement by Iran in encouraging the various players to [foment] regional instability, Syria's involvement in Hezbollah's reorganization after the Lebanon War and the preparations in which the Syrian army is engaging."

"To the best of our understanding, these preparations by the Syrian army are defensive," he continued. "Nevertheless, we are also increasing our preparedness."

"We are all worried by the [possibility of a] miscalculation that would lead to escalation," Kaplinsky added.

"Therefore, we are doing everything possible to make our intentions clear to the Syrians and to correctly interpret Syria's moves."

Regarding the outcome of last summer's war, Kaplinsky acknowledged that "we made mistakes, but there were also achievements."

And since then, we have implemented a comprehensive and unprecedented process of learning lessons that has raised the IDF a level in many areas ... I promise you that today, the IDF is a different army.

"The principal problem that emerged during the war, he said, was a lack of training, and therefore, this is now the focus of activity. Since the start of 2007, all regular units have conducted exercises, as have about half of all reserve units, and by the end of the year, all reserve units will have done so unless the government approves a planned NIS 480 million cut in the defense budget, which would force the army to scale back training," he warned.

In the coming weeks, the army will also finish drafting yardsticks to measure each unit's preparedness, and therefore its suitability for a given mission something the air force did years ago, but has until now not been done in the ground forces, he added.

Kaplinsky said he realized that the intense training schedule is a heavy burden for reservists, and urged improved compensation for them. Unfortunately, this burden will continue next year as well, he said, adding that he hoped it would decrease again thereafter.

The army has also adopted a five-year plan to upgrade its emergency storehouses, he said, and about a third will be upgraded by the end of this year.