As head of the IDF general staff’s planning division, General Eyal Harel must consider what it will take to defend the Jewish state both in the next few years and the next few decades, wrestling with problems of personnel, rapidly changing weaponry, and shifting strategic challenges. He discusses these issues in an interview by Danny Zaken and Amiram Barkat:

Last month, the Chinese minister of defense, together with senior military figures, paid a visit to Tehran, where they met with their Iranian counterparts, as well as with the Iranian president. Tuvia Gering and Jason M. Brodsky doubt the talks will result in a grand Sino-Iranian alliance, but they nonetheless expect increased collaboration between the two countries. For many years, they note, Beijing has evaded or violated embargoes to sell arms to the Islamic Republic, and there’s reason to expect more of the same: