The Israeli Defense Force has announced that it is cancelling scheduled all leaves and passes for all personnel serving on the borders with Lebanon and Syria. This action sheds light on the heightened tensions along Israel northern border in the aftermath of last week’s action against Iranian-supported weaponized gliders in Iraq and Hezbollah’s missile accuracy improvement facility in Beirut, Lebanon. Both actions have drawn vows of revenge from the Iranian-backed militia.
It should be noted that Israel’s small geographic size and the holiness of the Sabbath foster a culture in which active duty personnel are regularly granted passes to spend weekends at home, while minimally necessary crews maintain bases and hold border outposts. The cancellation of such passes ahead of the weekend, which in Israel starts on Friday, is thus a news-worthy event.
