Netanyahu at the new barrier on Israel’s eastern border: “Do not test us”, from the Yarmouk to Eilat

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the construction site of the new barrier on the country’s eastern border on Thursday, October 15, and spoke near Kibbutz Massuah in the Jordan Valley, south of the Sea of Galilee. He was accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz, Border and Seam Line Administration head Brig. Gen. Eran Ofir, 96th Division commander Brig. Gen. Oren Simcha and other commanders. According to a JNS report on the visit, he was briefed on the work to strengthen defences on the eastern border.

“I am here in the Jordan Valley, near Kibbutz Massuah, with the defence minister and the IDF commanders. What is behind me is the huge barrier we are building on the eastern border, from the Yarmouk to Eilat. We are building it as additional security, on top of the security zones we have in Lebanon, in Syria and, of course, in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said.

“Plans against drones, I will not say more”

“We are surrounding the State of Israel with a huge barrier, but that is not all. There are forces, there is an operational plan, there are plans against drones, I will not go into detail. Simply maximum defence, to protect Israel’s citizens and not to let anyone even think of invading the State of Israel,” he continued. “A huge project is under way here, a huge engineering project, a huge logistics project. The IDF has been mobilised, reservists have been mobilised. All this force comes to tell Israel’s enemies: do not test us.”

The length, cost and completion date of the barrier were not announced.

Katz: “Attack first”

Katz said the barrier, the security zones and the forces are an important part of the defence plan, “but they come only in addition to the main one: a pre-emptive offensive policy, led by the prime minister, of the State of Israel and the IDF against distant Iran and against nearby threats”.

“First of all attack, eliminate the enemy, remove the threats and, along with that, strong protection of Israel’s citizens,” he added. The previous day Katz had sent a cryptic message from Lebanon about Hezbollah and Iran, covered in our report on his Lebanon visit.

A second warning in three days

Two days earlier, on Tuesday, October 13, Netanyahu had spoken at the seam-line barrier in Samaria. “Our enemies are thinking of testing us in these days, before the elections,” he said then. “I do not advise our enemies to test us. You will meet here a force you never imagined.”

Israel’s parliamentary elections are set for October 27, while the chief of the General Staff has warned that they may be postponed, as covered in our report on the Maariv article.