Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant visited the Tel Hashomer military recruitment base on Sunday and was briefed by senior IDF officials. He then held a discussion with soldiers being drafted to the Nahal and Kfir Brigades and toured the military base.

“It must be made clear that the State of Israel is fighting for its existence within a hostile environment. We have been at war for 10 months on 7 different fronts. The key to our security is our people,” Galland told the recruits.

“You are coming in [to the IDF], during a challenging and significant time. This is true for the entire war and in particular during these days when our enemies threaten to harm us in ways they have not done before. We hear these messages coming from the direction of Iran and Hezbollah. Whoever harms us in a way that has not been done in the past, is likely to be hit in a way that hasn’t been done in the past. The IDF has significant capabilities,” the minister declared.

He noted: “I hope that they will think this through and won’t get to a point where they will force us to cause significant damage and increase the chances of war breaking out on additional fronts. We do not want this, but we must be prepared.

“You have, and we have the right to defend ourselves on our own. I hope that the IDF’s actions will lead to the achievement of our goals and to instating calm and stability – but this is not guaranteed. Nothing is certain, and therefore we must be prepared for a more complex reality, even if it is not what we desire. We must be ready for it,” he concluded.