Ashkenazi: Terrorism is greatest threat

BRUSSELS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A top Israeli defense official, during an address at the recent NATO meeting in Brussels, called global terrorism the greatest threat to international security.

Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel Defense Forces chief of the general staff, was in Brussels for NATO's annual fall meeting of the Chiefs of Defense that ended Thursday. During a speech, Ashkenazi said the greatest threat in the 21st century is global terrorism, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

Ashkenazi said terrorists are supported by radical states and are becoming more sophisticated in their militant operations. He said terrorists have no borders and are determined to kill as a result of an absence of any moral restraint.

"The enemy is no longer in uniform," Ashkenazi said in a statement.

"He has become elusive, harder to detect. The battleground has widened to engulf the field of ideas. Therefore the terrorists are determined never to surrender, ready to kill and be killed."

Ashkenazi called on the Chiefs of Defense to strengthen cooperation with Israel in order to counter the evolving threat.