The political echelon must allow the IDF to operate in Lebanon unhindered in order to win, former prime minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
“I am not willing to accept a situation in which IDF soldiers in Lebanon are forced against their will to go from hunters to hunted, because the political echelon is tying their hands,” he wrote on X/Twitter, citing conversations he had with soldiers and commanders on the ground.
While the government imposes severe restrictions on its troops, Hezbollah’s terrorists are “sitting comfortably in places they know the IDF has been forbidden to strike, and from there they are carrying out attacks and launching explosive drones at our forces.”
“Our heroic soldiers are not sitting ducks on a shooting range,” Bennett said. “Even if there is international pressure, the role of Israel's leader is to ensure above all else the security of our soldiers and citizens, at any cost.”
“Let the IDF win!" he ended.
Zamir says current soldiers are greatest generation since War of Independence
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir hailed this generation of IDF soldiers as the greatest since the 1947-1949 War of Independence during a visit to the 36th Division in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.
Zamir was accompanied by IDF Northern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Rafi Milo and Ground Forces Chief Maj.-Gen Nadav Lotan.
"We are in a historic war, and there is a generation of heroism here," Zamir told the division's soldiers. "Heroic brigade and battalion commanders - there has been no equal since the generation of 1948. You are waging exemplary battles here, and I salute you."
"Hezbollah draws its strength from Iran. We hit Iran hard. We destroyed most of the components of the defense industry in Iran - including the factories that produce weapons for Hezbollah," he said.
"We have achieved everything that the political echelon laid out for us in relation to campaigns in Iran and Lebanon, and even more."
"In Lebanon, we achieved the task laid out for us to prevent direct fire on northern Israel's communities... We will not tolerate attacks and firing on our communities, and we will not leave until security is guaranteed for the communities of the north."
James Genn contributed to this report.