Israel to have solution to counter any foreign threat, says Defence Minister

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant brushed aside Iranian claims that it had developed a new hypersonic missile on June 6, saying Israel would always have a solution to counter it, as tensions remained high over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran claimed earlier on June 6y that it had created a hypersonic missile capable of travelling at 15 times the speed of sound. Iranian officials did not release any footage of a successful launch of the new missile, called Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi.

“I hear our enemies boasting about weapons they are developing. To any such development, we have an even better response — whether it be on land, in the air, or in the maritime arena, including both defensive and offensive means,” Gallant said during a visit to the military’s Northern Command, amid a major drill.

“We will know how to protect the citizens of Israel, and how to strike our enemies with a crushing blow if, God forbid, they start a war against us,” he said in a video statement.

Gallant met with senior military officers leading the drill in northern Israel, as part of the Israel Defense Forces’ two-week-long “Firm Hand” exercise. The drills are focused on a potential multifront war with Iran and its terror proxies across the Middle East, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Attending the meeting with Gallant was the chief of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin; the head of the Northern Corps and Maneuver Array, Maj. Gen. Saar Tzur; and the head of the Training Command and General Staff Corps, Maj. Gen. Moti Baruch, the minister’s office said.

Gallant observed two separate exercises in the Northern Command on June 6, one by the 91st Territorial Division and the other by the 36th Armored Division, and “watched closely the activity of the forces practising lengthy combat in the northern arena,” his office said.