Local Editor

Outgoing "Israeli" army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz predicted no soon war with Hizbullah but did not rule out a future war.

"We don't expect war to be initiated against us in the coming year, but there could be a deterioration as a result of specific events" as occurred in the Gaza Strip, Gantz said in interviews published in eight newspapers in the past days and over the weekend.

He further added: "Neither Hizbullah nor Hamas currently want to start a war with us. Our enemies face other challenges at the moment, but the instability is such that I can't promise that we won't be fighting in Lebanon in 2015."

Gantz will leave his post in four months. But he made sure to warn that Hizbullah would do well to learn from the capabilities demonstrated by the "Israeli" military in the recent bloody campaign on Gaza.

"While the Arab world is busy with wars and fights against terrorism, the common enemy remains "Israel"," reminded Gantz.

"Our enemies are currently busy with other problems, but who is next in line for all of them? Us!" stated Gantz. "If Hizbullah weren't busy now doing what Iran tells them to do in Syria who is their fixed enemy? Us.

In the same interviews, Gantz tried to defend the "Israeli" army's performance during the latest aggression on Gaza, noting that the strategic objectives of the operation were not "the occupation of Gaza or the collapse of Hamas."

Gantz claimed that the resistance group "suffered military setbacks during the war, but that "Israel" can only secure long-term quiet on its border with Gaza if "an economic anchor backs up what was achieved in the fighting."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team