I was sorry to hear of the passing of Sheldon Adelson, a Jew who loved his people and loved Israel. He was a huge American patriot, who saw anchoring the alliance between Israel and the US as a mission. While alive, his story about a kid who sold newspaper becoming a successful businessman fired up the imaginations of everyone around him. His determination and ability to spot opportunities, take risks, be daring, and carry out plans were his trademarks.

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Aside from his global businesses, in the last few decades Sheldon used his abilities to influence public life. It would be hard to count the many and varied philanthropic initiatives to which Sheldon contributed his wealth, most of which deepen the ties between the Jewish people to their land and legacy.

Sheldon fostered links between Diaspora Jewry and the state of Israel by giving to Yad Vashem, Taglit-Birthright, Garin Tzabar - Israeli Lone Soldier IDF Program, and medical and academic projects. The Innovation Center at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and the Adelson School of Medicine at Ariel University, where we met last Hanukkah, were an investment in Israeli research, medicine, and development. The importance of founding such an institution at this time cannot be overstated. Generations of doctors and other medical workers will thank him for the initiatives, and we will all benefit from the fruits of the investment and the belief that beat in Adelson when he was determined to launch an excellent new faculty of medicine that opened its doors to all Israelis and everyone who wants to learn.

In places where there were no men, Sheldon "strove to be a man," to invest his wealth and time, to be there, to help and offer support.

More than anything, Sheldon believed in the strategic alliance between Israel and the US, and saw deepening the ties between the two countries as the surest investment in the future of the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

I extend my condolences to Miriam, the love of his life, and his partner on the path of contributing to building up the nation and the land, as well as to the entire family.

May his memory be a blessing.

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Maj. Gen. Mickey Edelstein, who heads the military's counter-tunnel warfare development efforts, further said that some of the tactics already developed for underground warfare will soon become obsolete.

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Edelstein was speaking at a symposium titled "Subterranean Challenges in War and Peace," hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in collaboration with the United States Military Academy of West Point and the US Embassy in Israel.

"There is a need to change many of the basic assumptions. The enemy wants to force us to operate above and below ground at the same time, in order to exhaust us and lead to further attacks against civilians," he said.

Edelstein noted that with respect to urban warfare, buildings that have been cleared of terrorists could still pose a risk due to tunnels.

"If in the past there was the question of whether we could counter the terror tunnels without entering them – we won't have this privilege in the future. There is a 100% chance that we will face the challenge of the tunnels in Gaza and in Lebanon."

He further noted that the threat posed by terror tunnels in the northern sector is unequivocal.

"Every village has tunnels," he said, adding that the IDF is sparing no effort to meet this challenge.

"Tunnel warfare reduced nearly all the advantaged you have when fighting above ground to almost zero, be it with respect to firepower, engaging the enemy, and the troops' movement," he explained.

"One of the problems is that we don't have the intelligence capability to discern the location of each and every tunnel. No one unit can do handle locating a tunnel and neutralize it – we need an entire strategic lineup for that," he said.

Satellite images released last week by ImageSat International showed that construction of an underground storage tunnel for missiles is underway at a Shiite militia base in northeastern Syria that was built by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to the images, the tunnel is being dug near a crossing over the Syria-Iraq border.

The Imam Ali base, where the tunnel is under construction, is the crown jewel of Iran's presence in Syria.

It allows access to a land corridor that extends from Iraq to Iran, eliminating the need for IRGC personnel to maintain air bases, which are vulnerable to Israeli strikes.

The tunnel exposed on Tuesday proves that the base is designed to accommodate advanced weapon systems that the Iranians could use in a future conflict with Israel.

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