IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz
IDF Chief of Staff Benny GantzIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Nobody knows what the future holds for the Middle East, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday evening, speaking at a conference marking 10 years since the creation of the IDF’s Computer Service Directorate. The directorate manages communication and information protection in the IDF.

The directorate was created by Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, at Gantz’s recommendation.

“These days the branch is working on project ‘Crystal Ball’ – a process of changing and coordination aimed at improving our readiness for whatever is coming,” Gantz said.

“The IDF’s ‘crystal ball,’ like the skies of the Middle East, is covered in clouds of uncertainty,” he continued. “Storm winds are blowing from north and south, near and far. These winds, as usual, threaten to reach us as well.”

“There is one answer to this fogginess – keeping the IDF strong, and maintaining initiative and deterrence,” he declared. He added, “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we know on what, and on who, any possible ‘tomorrow’ will rely.”

“This event, and the people I meet here today, give me confidence that the Computer Service Directorate’s ‘Crystal Ball’ is in the best, most professional hands,” he told the audience. “I am proud to command an army that looks forward, sets a goal and shapes the tomorrow that we are striving for. I am proud to command people like you.”