News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Senior IDF officers said Thursday that a major exercise planned for next week will be changed in order to avoid escalating tensions with Syria.  Parts of the exercise that were to take place in the Golan have been canceled, and the entire exercise will take place in the Galilee.

IDF commanders explained that a major exercise in the Golan could raise fears of an IDF invasion among Syrian leaders.  “We wanted to remove any shadow of a doubt... and to make it clear that this is only an exercise,” one officer explained.  The exercise will be unusually large, and will include the air force and naval corps in addition to group troops.