TEL AVIV – Lebanese terror group Hezbollah may use suicide ships in its next war with Israel, R.-Adm. Prof. Shaul Chorev told the Jerusalem Post.
“Hezbollah will not need to equip themselves with ships like Israel, but we must assume they will use asymmetric warfare to challenge Israeli technology like land-to-sea missiles or suicide ships like you see in Yemen,” Chorev, a former deputy chief of naval operations, said.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, led by Iran, have deployed suicide bombers in small boats to blow up large Saudi vessels in their fight against a Saudi-led coalition.
Chorev added that the next war with Hezbollah “could see a focus on the sea” with the terror group targeting “Israeli strategic assets.”
More than 90% of Israel’s imports arrive by sea, yet, Chorev said, the government and the public are unaware of the extent of the threat posed to maritime targets such as natural gas drilling rigs. The IDF believes Hezbollah is in possession of long-range missiles that can hit the rigs.
According to Chorev, by exploiting the civil war in Syria, Iran has “upgrade[d] its status in the region to almost that of a regional superpower.”
Tehran “is on the verge of reaching the Mediterranean, including the use of Syrian ports by the Iranian navy,” he said, adding that Iranian control of eastern Mediterranean ports was a “real risk for Israel.”
It is therefore incumbent upon Jerusalem to persuade Washington and Moscow to do everything in their power to stop Iran’s navy from becoming further entrenched in Syria, he said.
“The Russians have come into the Middle East taking over from the Americans who have neglected the eastern Mediterranean,” Chorev said.
