Israeli Military Spy Chief Warns of ‘Increasingly Islamist’

In his annual report to be presented soon, Israeli military spy chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi is warning of a serious prospect of a war breaking out between Israel and a neighbor soon, citing “increasingly Islamist” neighbors.

The “Islamist” comment seems primarily to be aimed at Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, though it may also be targeting a rebel regime in Syria as well, as their leadership is overwhelmingly Sunni Islamist factions as well.

Of course when considering such a warning, one cannot forget that Israeli officials have been projecting imminent wars for years and holding out the old regimes as an example, so in reality this is just the same “warning” with a new spin.

The big change though, as Kochavi cautioned, is that wars could break out “without prior planning” now, apparently a sign that Israel can no longer just pencil in a war months in advance, as they did with the 2006 invasion of Lebanon or the 2008 invasion of the Gaza Strip, and simply build a narrative around why the war wasn’t their fault at their leisure