WASHINGTON \u2015 A top Israeli general tasked with writing his country\u2019s new defense policy said Israel must prepare for direct confrontation with Iran and is counting on U.S. support in order to prevail against the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe cannot fight Iran alone,\u201d Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, a candidate to become the next Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, told a Sept. 7 think tank gathering here. \u201cThey can affect us; we can affect them. It\u2019s all about attrition. But if you want to gain something which is deeper, we cannot do it alone. This is a fact of life. It\u2019s better to admit that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the Washington Institute where he is a visiting military fellow, Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff, said he was focusing his time in the U.S. capital on drafting the nation\u2019s first national defense policy document at the behest of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Golan is vying with the IDF\u2019s current deputy chief of staff to replace Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the IDF\u2019s top officer, who is expected to end his four-year term next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first public preview of the policy document, Golan said Israel\u2019s force buildup plan \u2015 one of the four pillars of the new policy that includes operational perception, readiness and leadership \u2015 would clearly prescribe the wherewithal to fight Iran. \u201cThis is new. We cannot allow ourselves not to prepare for direct confrontation with Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have expeditionary forces. There is no Marine Corps in Israel \u2026 this is beyond our capabilities. So what should we have? That\u2019s a big question. That\u2019s the classified part,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Syrian regime forces and their Russian and Iranian-backed allies move methodically to push Islamic State militants and other opposition forces out of key areas along Syria\u2019s borders with Iraq and Israel, the Israeli government has become increasingly anxious and public about its opposition to a permanent Iranian presence along both borders once Russia ends its active involvement in the Syrian civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along the Syrian-Iraqi border, Israel is concerned about Iran or its Shiite proxy militias establishing an overland corridor that extends from the Arabian Gulf through Iraq and Syria and then onto Lebanon\u2019s coast along the Mediterranean Sea, where the well-armed, Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization controls not only southern Lebanon, but policy decisions emanating from the Lebanese government in Beirut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And along Syria\u2019s southwestern borders with Israel and Jordan, Israeli officials vow never to accept an Iranian presence on the Syrian side of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, nor to tolerate Iranian attempts to build air bases, seaports and other critical infrastructure in Syrian territory. To this end, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met six times with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past 17 months to press for an Iranian-free zone of influence in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIran, by way of its Revolutionary Guards, is trying to create a new reality around us with air bases and naval bases in Syria and with Shi\u2019ite militias comprised of thousands of mercenaries and precision weapon production facilities in Lebanon,\u201d Liberman said in a published statement late last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Israeli defense minister, Israel \u201chas no intention of reconciling with these attempts, and will not accept the role of an outside observer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his Washington Institute address, Golan said he understood, yet disagreed, with the priority that U.S. and European countries have placed on defeating ISIS, arguing instead that the real threat is and remains Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor decades, we\u2019ve dealt with ISIS-style terrorism. I don\u2019t say it\u2019s not a problem. But we managed to live with that. \u2026 They are primitive and with relatively limited capabilities. Yes, they have their determination and they are dangerous,\u201d he said. \u201dBut when looking at the Iranian threat, it\u2019s much more dangerous compared to the ISIS threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey [Iran] are a higher form of civilization. They have nice, academic infrastructure, impressive industry, good scientists and many talented young people. They are very similar to us, and because they are similar to us they are much, much more dangerous. And we can\u2019t cope with them alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Golan, a hardened warrior and commander who fought multiple conflicts over decades in Lebanon, Gaza and throughout the West Bank, Iran thinks in \u201cimperial\u201d terms. \u201cI\u2019ve followed the Iranian mindset for many years. They think globally, from a historical perspective and in a very wide frame. They\u2019ve had, up until now, three different empires. Why wouldn\u2019t they have a fourth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring to Iranian-backed militias and agents from Latin America to the Horn of Africa, Golan offered begrudging praise for the leaders in Tehran, who he said operate \u201cvery cleverly\u201d in the region and beyond. \u201cThey try all the time to invest as least as possible. And if they have to invest, they prefer to invest money, not blood. And when it comes to blood, they want to invest as little as possible and use other proxies. And if it\u2019s absolutely necessary to work with them, they support them by military leadership, not warriors. That\u2019s the way they work. … It\u2019s very clever, very sophisticated and therefore very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IDF officer insisted that Israel can prevail over Iranian-backed enemies at its immediate borders and has no need for active assistance from America or anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country of Iran, he said, is a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can achieve decisive victory over Hezbollah, and we don\u2019t need help from a single American soldier, but we cannot fight Iran alone,\u201d he said. \u201cI consider future cooperation with the U.S. much more important than anything we\u2019ve had in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work on Israel\u2019s new defense policy should be concluded in the coming weeks, after which it will be presented for review. The defense policy will serve as a guideline and justification for implementing an IDF strategy document published by Eisenkot in July 2016. The defense policy, he clarified, should be viewed as just part of Israel\u2019s overall national security policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the exception of ad hoc amendments, an overarching, government-approved national security policy has not been updated since it was authored by Israel\u2019s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, after Israel\u2019s founding in 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n