Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged for the first time that Israel has taken action dozens of times beyond the northern border to prevent Hezbollah from attaining “game-changing” weaponry.”“We are proud that, in the stormy and volatile Middle East, we were able to maintain relative calm and relative safety in Israel. We act when we should act, including here, across the border, in dozens of attacks, to prevent Hezbollah from acquiring game-changing weaponry,” the premier said.
Netanyahu said Israel was acting on other fronts as well, “nearby and far away, but are doing it in an intelligent manner.” The country, he said was facing Islamic State and Hezbollah in the north, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and Islamic State and global jihadists in Sinai.Speaking to the soldiers, Netanyahu said: “This is our country, and we need to defend it; nobody else will defend it except us.Herb Keinon contributed to this article.