Israel must prepare for an expanding regional confrontation and strengthen local civilian defenses against the threat of illegal weapons, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Erez Wiener, chairman of the Israel Defense And Security Forum (IDSF, “HaBitchonistim” in Hebrew), warned at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Thursday.
“We’re moving now from the Iranian rings of fire, from the Shi’ite rings of fire that were built around us,” Winner said, referring to Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, Iraqi militias, and Iran. He warned that a new “Sunni ring of fire,” could be developing, led by Turkey. Ensuring ammunition independence will be key to confronting this threat, he said.
Closer to home, Winner highlighted what he described as the growing danger posed by illegal weapons smuggled across Israel’s borders or stolen from military stockpiles, a number he said was anywhere between 250,000 and one million—“more than the IDF has in its warehouses.”
He also raised concerns about the large number of the Palestinian Authority’s armed policemen – 70,000. “Under the Oslo Agreement, they were allowed to have 18,000 policemen, with light arms. Not what they have today,” he said.
“When we talked about it a couple of months ago, we were told ‘don’t talk about it, let’s keep it quiet,’” he said. “You have to talk about it.” Winner said ISDF is developing a national plan to deal with this threat, and that he had met recently with the defense minister and feels the matter is being taken more seriously now.
Winner also outlined ISDF’s “Home Shield Initiative,” – which trains communities to defend themselves during the first minutes of an attack. He pointed to October 7, when communities’ varying levels of preparedness had significant consequences.
“In the first 10 minutes, if you have a local group that’s ready, that’s prepared, that’s trained, that has the equipment, that has the knowledge—it changes everything,” he said.
Wiener also shared that ISDF has launched a pilot program in the northern Gilboa region, working alongside the Border Police, police, and IDF. Winner expressed hope that the government would adopt the initiative nationwide.
This article was written in collaboration with IDSF.