There is an Iranian terror base in southern Lebanon only 20 kilometers from the border with Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed through pictures on Monday.
Speaking at the Reichman University International Counter-Terrorism Institute Conference, Gallant said that at an airport at Kilat Jabar, one can see Iran’s flag flying on the runways from which the ayatollahs’ regime is using to plot against Israel.
The defense minister said, “put differently, the land is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, the target is Israel.”
Iran remains the greatest threat to Israel
He said Israel must “remain aware and at [the] ready, with our eyes set on the binoculars and our fingers on the trigger.”
Gallant added that Iran remains the greatest threat to Israel, though sometimes it uses Hezbollah and other proxies to fight its wars against the Jewish state.
If Hezbollah “goes toward a conflict with us, they will pay a high price.”
“We will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a Hezbollah 2.0” with powerful rockets, he said.
The defense minister also said Iran is closer than ever to a nuclear weapon and that the defense establishment cannot take the threat lightly at any point.
Earlier at the conference, FBI Executive Assistant Director for National Security Larissa L. Knapp discussed Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism over many decades and how it views both the US and Israel as its adversaries.
She emphasized that the Islamic Republic “wants to reduce the US influence and presence in the Middle East,” and noted the IRGC plot to assassinate former US national security advisor John Bolton.
Knapp also noted the FBI’s disruption of “an Iranian plot to murder an Iranian dissident in New York City” using three men from Asian backgrounds.
Next, she mentioned Iran’s cyberattacks against the US and its online campaign to undermine American electoral processes as well as to try to seek and hack US technology for weapons programs.
Also, at the conference, UK Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said there was a record number of minors getting hooked into and seeking out radical terror causes.
For example, he discussed a 15-year-old who ran an online forum for how to carry out attacks.
Next, Taylor talked about the importance of the UK’s expulsion of Russian intelligence officers and the dangers of failing to keep up with the constant changes in the technological sphere.