Following last night’s security incidents along Israel’s borders with Syria and the Gaza Strip, the IDF has been put on high alert.
What’s going on? Was the attempt to plant explosives near the security fence between Israel and Syria connected to Hezbollah’s promise to retaliate? Is Israel headed towards an escalation in the south?
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Assaf Orion of the INSS, will discuss the latest developments along the borders and provide a strategic analysis of what could happen next.
Orion joined the INSS in late 2015 as a senior research fellow, following 32 years of IDF service. In his final posting in the IDF, Brig. Gen. Orion served as head of Strategic Division in the Planning Directorate in the IDF General Staff (2010-2015), responsible for strategic planning, policy formulation, international cooperation, military diplomacy and liaison to neighboring militaries and peacekeeping forces in the region. He headed the IDF team to the tripartite talks with UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces, led staff dialogs with foreign defense partners, took part in the US-Israel security dialogue, and represented the IDF in negotiations with the Palestinians. Prior to that he headed two departments in the Planning Directorate, following more than two decades in command and intelligence positions in Israel’s National SIGINT Unit 8200 and Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI), in SIGINT, OSINT, and international intelligence cooperation. Brig. Gen. Orion holds a B.A. in Arabic language and literature and Middle Eastern history from Tel Aviv University (1992), and an M.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (2000), Israel’s IC senior inter-agency Intelligence course (1994) the IDF Advanced Course on Operational Art, and the International Intelligence Directors’ Course (DISC) in Great Britain (2005). His fields of interest include national and regional security, applied strategy, strategic negotiation and cooperation, learning systems and adaptation challenges in complex and fast changing environments.
