IDF Readying Itself for Threat From Islamic State in the Sinai

This article was originally published by ynetnews.com:

A tense kind of quiet has characterized the Israel-Egypt border for the past year. The desert area has seen the threat of the Islamic State group grow in that time, leading the IDF to realize that it could end up affecting Israel directly – specifically its southern towns. The IDF has taken this danger to heart, and has been preparing.

The IDF Southern Command has changed its war plans three times, updating them to fit the expected threat. For instance, troops are focusing more on fighting in urban areas and protecting southern Israeli agricultural farms, which may be vulnerable to infiltration by ISIS elements.

One of the units in charge of the Israel-Egypt border is the IDF Caracal Battalion (Battalion 33, an integrated infantry unit that has women and men serving alongside each other), which has dedicated much of the past year training for this new threat. This change is defined as “improving lethality.”

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