Israeli military launches drill simulating attacks from north, south

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The Israeli Defense Force is running a four-day readiness exercise, simulating wars fought on Israel's northern and southern borders.

The drill began Sunday and is meant to test the military's ability for simultaneous action on several fronts. It comes days after a plan to improve the IDF was approved by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.

The plan, known in Hebrew as Tenufa, was designed by Defense Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochlavi to make the Israeli military "more flexible, smarter and deadlier."

Tenufa calls for quick deployment of troops and equipment, and wars won as rapidly as possible. The plan was deliberately composed to counter perceived potential threats to Israel in the next decade, and calls for the military to have a constantly updated list of targets and the means to strike them.

The four-day drill, called a "headquarters exercise," concentrates on streamlining communications between commands, instead of demonstrations of tactical maneuvers in the field. All aspects of the Israeli defense structure, including the Navy and the IDF's Northern and Southern Commands, are involved.

The military said the drills, planned in advance, are not responses to a new or specific threat.

The IDF held a surprise drill in January involving a surprise attack that shut down critical computer systems. It was preceded in November 2019 by another surprise exercise testing the military's capabilities in northern Israel, and simulated a sudden war with Lebanon's Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups.