Former Israeli intelligence chief: We warn any country against our challenge

The former intelligence chief’s speech comes amid Israeli fears of a large-scale security escalation, following attacks from Lebanon and Syria in recent days.

And Israeli media reported that orders were issued to close the airspace in northern and southern Israel to civilian flights, with a range of 6 kilometers with the Syrian-Lebanese border, and in the south for the same distance with the Gaza border, for fear of any large-scale security escalation.

The former head of Israeli military intelligence and director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), General Tamir Hayman, spoke to “Sky News Arabia” about the most prominent points in the Israeli file:

• I declared clearly after the incident that occurred with the attempts to dismiss the Minister of Defense that we are at a time of great challenges for Israeli national security, and there is no time for the ambiguous situation we live in now. The Prime Minister made good strategic decisions that assure me that we see the Netanyahu we are accustomed to.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a speech on Monday his reversal of his decision to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after he dismissed him last month due to political differences.

The Israeli government had put forward a plan for judicial amendments, which sparked a wide division and fueled a wave of protests in the country.

Hyman said:

• Judicial reform generated a wave of demonstrations in the streets, and we are now negotiating to find a solution for judicial reform, due to street pressure.
• I am not suggesting that any country challenge the Israeli army forces at present. We are a democratic country, and some may think that this is weakness. But when there is any threat to the country, we will not hesitate to respond militarily, and the international world will unite with us, as happened last week when we were attacked.
• There are no threats to our foreign relations and agreements. We obey international laws and respect all treaties. There is a great deal of debate about Israel’s liberal democratic future. Even if some legislation changes this, Israel will remain a democracy.
• The balance between the Supreme Court, the Knesset and the government, in the opinion of more than 80 percent of the citizens, is the correct approach.