Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman backed Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot on Tuesday, saying the occupation military hasn’t been as ready and prepared for war as it is today since 1967.
“We’re at the highest level of preparedness since the Six-Day War,” Lieberman asserted in an interview with Ynet.
The Israeli minister rejected a report by IOF Ombudsman Maj. Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Brick, which asserted the military’s preparedness has been significantly harmed.
“I read the report and spoke to Brick several times, and he makes important comments in his report. (But) I think he’s greatly mistaken about one issue—the issue of the IDF’s preparedness for war,” Lieberman said.
“I’m not just saying it because this is what I think, (I’m saying it) as someone who has been sitting on the (Security) Cabinet for decades.”
He did note, however, that “it’s not that we don’t have problems. (The IOF) is a massive machine with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of different military instruments—from planes to APCs and sniper rifles.”
The Israeli military’s state of preparedness “will never be ideal,” the defense minister said. “But when I compare it throughout the years—since 1967, we haven’t been as prepared as we are today.”
Source: Israeli media
