Defense Minister Gallant was present at the completion of a major exercise in the north today (Tuesday), simulating combat conditions in fighting Hezbollah in the north.
At its end, Gallant provided his own assessment of the situation:
"A few words on the enemy: The Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah of a week ago. The series of blows it was struck with in command and control, in terrorists, in weapons - all of these are very serious blows. And I very much trust the IDF and everything it does and we have other blows ready."
He nevertheless warned against complacency:
"However, remember that Hezbollah is not Hamas. There are similar things and there are different things - the territory looks different, the enemy looks different, the threats look different, and the challenges are different."
He ended by providing a sober rallying cry:
"You are the most well-trained forces the IDF ever had. No-one had undergone a year of fighting like you have. But like I said in the beginning, you are going in against an organization that looks different - suffered serious blows, its morale is low. But when it says that it wants to strike us, to destroy us, to harm us - take this with the utmost seriously, this is its goal, it means it."