In the past few decades, Israel's enemies have changed from guerilla cells to terrorist armies, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Thursday at a memorial ceremony in Zikhron Yaakov honoring fallen soldiers from the IDF's Artillery Corps.
"The enemy is organized in brigades and platoons, armed with missiles, rockets, and advanced weaponry, and is operating from inside densely-populated urban areas, with a civilian population that it sees as living flak jackets," Kochavi said.
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"The changes in the enemy demand that the IDF make changes and adjust its forces and methods of warfare, so urban areas cannot shield the enemy. The firepower the enemy will encounter in the next war will be unprecedented, and a country that allows terrorism to entrench itself in its territory will be seen as responsible for it, and suffer the consequences," Kochavi warned.
"The IDF has a moral obligation to defend the nation's citizens against the armies of terrorism that surround them. When the Israeli homefront is under threat by thousands of missiles and rockets, we won't hesitate to strike a massive blow to eradicate those threats. We will attack and preserve our values, but a main tenet of those values is the need to protect our citizens," he said.
Kochavi said that the fallen were remembered, but the living also had an obligation to return Israel's missing and captive soldiers and citizens, including Artillery Corps Staff Sgt. Guy Hever.
"We will not cease our efforts to fulfill that obligation and I am holding the hands of the families in pain. That is a goal for entire IDF and the Artillery Corps in particular, which plays a key role in war," Kochavi said.
Commander of the Artillery Corps, Brig. Gen. Aviram Sela, addressed the bereaved families.
"Time does not blunt or ease [pain]. Pain hurts, and the longing never stops. Our legacy is our strength – the glorious legacy our heroes left us, the ones whose names are engraved on this wall."
Meanwhile, tensions in the western Negev are expected to remain high over the weekend after a few fraught days of rocket fire from Gaza and IDF airstrikes in response.
