Cyprus was chosen by Israel to carry out the most critical part of the largest and most important exercise of the Israeli army in recent years under the name “Chariots of Fire”, provoking the strong reaction of Turkey which in the recent visit of M. Tsavousoglu to Israel had asked for its annulment.
The Israelis not only did not cancel the exercise but on the contrary gave the most official character to the exercise as yesterday they visited Cyprus and attended the exercise Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gatz and Israeli General Staff General Aviv Kohavi with Chief of Staff D Zervaki. With articles and a series of posts on social media, they highlighted their visit to Cyprus and the high level of cooperation with the National Guard.
The Israeli exercise lasts a month and includes scenarios of Israeli involvement on fronts with Hezbollah and Hamas. The part of the exercise that took place in Cyprus was called “Agapinor 2022” or “Beyond the Horizon”
The exercise involved from the Israeli side all selected units of the Israeli Army, the Shayetet 13 naval unit, the Yahalom special combat engine unit, the Okez unit, intelligence units and fighters from the cyber defense directorate.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the units are being trained in a variety of terrain, including high altitude, mountainous and urban areas of the island as the exercise scenarios simulate the threats that the Israeli army may face on similar terrains as the Lebanese one. against Hezbollah.
The Israeli Minister of Defense and AGETHA met with Lieutenant General Zervakis and were informed about the exercise by the commanders of the participating units.
The exercises in Cyprus are one of the “largest and most extensive” military training exercises conducted by the Israeli armed forces in recent years, said the Minister of Defense and thanked Cyprus for hosting the exercises, emphasizing that it reflects the “strength of the Strategy Alliance between Israel and Cyprus “.
The scripts for “Chariots of Fire” are about a time-consuming and intense war and are shaped by the experience gained by the Israeli armed forces since the three-month war in Ukraine, as they believe that Hezbollah has “copied” much of Russia’s military tactics in during their coexistence in Syria.
According to the newspaper, the Israeli army set up teams in March to gather information and information in the fields of combat methods and doctrine, ground maneuvers, logistics, air defense and intelligence, as well as anti-tank warfare, cybersecurity, electronic and psychological warfare etc.
The scenarios envision, among other things, the infiltration of Hezbollah’s elite unit into Israeli territory for highly symbolic attacks as well as for the destruction of enemy targets before ground troops enter populated areas. Another problem that the Israeli army faces is that while it has recorded targets, e.g. in Beirut, will have to use special precision weapons, as they are located within residential areas. During the exercise, the forces are also trained to improve the effectiveness of real-time targeting by making them accessible to the front-line forces.
Extremely important are the lessons learned from Russia’s failure in the supply line for at least the first two months of the invasion of Ukraine as there was a shortage of food, water, fuel in the invading forces resulting in their capture by Ukrainian forces. Israel had similar supply problems, mainly during the 2006 Lebanon War and the 2012 Gaza Strip operation.
And these are just some of the reasons that make the exercise in Cyprus extremely important for Israel, but also the military cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus, which is now a strategic partner of both Israel and Egypt, provoking the wrath of Ankara.
