Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, Israel's outgoing air force chief, announced in an interview that the country's armed forces no longer have unrestricted aerial superiority over Lebanon.
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Norkin told the Kan public broadcaster that Israel had scaled back on its surveillance flights over Lebanon after one of its drones was almost downed by an anti-aircraft missile around one year ago.
This decision reportedly hindered Israel's ability to gather intelligence with drones over Lebanon's skies, according to Kan.
Norkin, who handed the rains to the IDF to Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar on Monday, also discussed Israel's readiness to confront threats from Tehran – an issue he said was considered a lower priority for the IDF until the United States withdrew unilaterally from the Iran nuclear deal back in 2018.
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"We need to coordinate our plans… [for] the enemies' preparations," the former air force chief said. "We need to present what we can do, not only in Iran, in 2022, 2023, and beyond."
"We also need to stand by what we cannot do, because the air force chief has a tremendous responsibility, and based on what answers he gives, decisions are made by the leadership. So I only give accurate, reliable answers about what we can do," he said.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
