Israel is holding a major war game.
Large units from Israel’s armed forces, including reservists, are practicing battle tactics in the Galilee this week. Military officials said the forces involved would be implementing lessons learned from the setbacks of last year’s war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
The exercise originally was to have taken place on the Golan Heights but was relocated for fear of worrying Syria, which has been bracing for a possible war with Israel.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters that Israel has conveyed a message to Damascus that the drill is not meant to be perceived as belligerent “to prevent the possibility of miscalculation or erroneous analysis of what we are doing.”
