http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=284549

‘Hezbollah aiming 60-70 thousand rockets at Israel' 
By JPOST.COM STAFF 
09/10/2012 18:35 
Amos Gilad says next war will be against the home front; Meridor: Arabs 
questioning congruence between Western, Islamic values. 
 Photo: REUTERS 
Hezbollah has between 60 and 70 thousand rockets aimed at Israel, Defense 
Ministry Diplomatic-Security chief Amos Gilad said Monday.

Speaking at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's World Summit, 
Gilad said the Lebanese terrorist organization has stockpiled rockets of 
various types, and its arsenal is far more robust than the one it had prior to 
the Second Lebanon War. "The next war will be aimed against the home front," 
Gilad warned.

  a.. Gilad also blamed Hezbollah for a number of successful and unsuccessful 
terrorist attacks abroad.

Though admitting that the threat from Lebanon is growing, Gilad was largely 
optimistic about Israel's security situation, citing positive developments in 
Syria, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

"In Syria, there is good news," Gilad said. "The Golan Heights remains the 
quietest region in the entire Middle East. Our deterrence capabilities are 
sufficiently, for the time being, keeping out warring parties in Syria." Gilad 
also warned that al-Qaida is starting to rear its head in Syria, with a view 
that the fall of Assad will allow it to open a new terror front against Israel.

Turning to Egypt, Gilad said that though there are many terrorist groups 
actively trying to strike Israel from the Sinai, recently-elected President 
Mohamad Morsy and his officials remain committed to peace.

Gilad called the situation in Gaza "relatively restrained," with Hamas 
generally holding other Palestinian terror groups back from striking Israel.

Gilad also stated that Israel is currently not facing a conventional military 
threat, a massive improvement over Israel's historical security situation.

Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor, who lectured at the same conference, said 
that the Arab Spring is forcing populations across the Middle East to answer 
difficult questions about the congruence between Western and Islamic values.

"What happens when the majority does not want democracy?" Meridor asked 
rhetorically. "What happens when the majority does not believe a woman is equal 
to a man? What happens what it wants the Muslim Brotherhood?"

Meridor said the Middle East is experiencing a "battle between Western ideals 
of freedom and democracy versus traditional conservative and Islamic values."


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