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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (September 21-27, 2023)

A Lebanese tractor crossed the border into Israeli territory, in the Har Dov area, and took down a mound erected by the IDF. According to the Lebanese army, the tractor operated in Lebanese territory. At the same time, the Lebanese army was paving a road nearby. IDF forces also continued their work in the area. In an interview to an Iranian news channel, Wafiq Safa, head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit, said that it was still too early to predict whether the decisive campaign against Israel was imminent In the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp, a temporary calm is apparent. Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s interim prime minister, said in an interview that a peace agreement with Israel could only be possible through negotiations carried out by the Arab League . A drone targeted, apparently in Syria, two Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives. The two were killed. In one of the reports, the attack was attributed to Israel. Hezbollah reportedly moved a system of surface-to-air missiles from Lebanon to one of its bases in the Dimas area on the outskirts of Damascus.
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Intelligence

Intelligence communities around the world and in Israel make a vital and unique contribution to the decision-making process at all levels. For better or worse, the intelligence product affects decisions related to war and peace, military operations and political moves. Intelligence systems are complex and problematic.  Therefore, deficiencies and failures are often found in the performance of the central intelligence components in the processes of intelligence collection and research, in the operational and preventive processes, and in the area of cooperation and coordination between the agencies. Sometimes these deficiencies have serious consequences.

In light of the above, there has been growing interest in the methodological research of intelligence on the part of the intelligence organizations themselves, as well as by research institutes, academic institutions and governmental entities in many countries. Methodological research of all the various aspects of intelligence is now more relevant than ever before. This is because intelligence, and in particular the research and evaluation of intelligence, have undergone a fundamental change in recent years. Instead of engaging in traditional research work alone, intelligence research now includes researching organizations, trends, social media and public opinion. This situation presents an enormous challenge for intelligence researchers, requiring them to acquire new skills that are different from those required of them in the past. They also raise basic questions about the balance between the traditional research methods and new research, and the new skills required from the intelligence researcher of today.

In the wake of this interest, many studies and analyses are written, in an attempt to understand the nature and complexity of intelligence activity, the problems related to the function of the intelligence community, its capabilities and weaknesses, its connection with other systems, and above all to examine what can be done to correct and improve its performance.