Israel launched a massive domestic military exercise Sunday to prepare forces for surprise border infiltrations and ground raids across northern and central Israel. The 48-hour drill mobilized multiple divisions and air assets as regional tensions continued to rise.

The Israeli military said the maneuvers include the Northern Command’s 210th Division, the West Bank Division, the Central Command’s 98th and 96th divisions, and the Israeli Air Force. The exercise is scheduled shortly before Israel’s Oct. 27 elections.

According to the IDF, the drill seeks to “maintain the forces’ alertness and readiness, strengthen the ability to defend communities, and make full use of aerial capabilities for defense in the area.” The military announced Friday that troops would rehearse several threatening scenarios.

Those scenarios include “a surprise attack and infiltration into Israeli territory by air and land,” the IDF said. The training incorporates lessons learned from the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

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Israeli national security analyst Dr. Ehud Eilam told Fox News Digital that the exercise is focused primarily on armed groups operating near Israel rather than Iran itself. Those potential threats include actors in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

“This exercise is mostly about non-state actors with or without Iranian support,” Eilam said. “It's aimed at those in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan who might try to infiltrate Israel or send ground raids. Some are supported by Iran; others are not. It could be planned by Iran or be a local initiative.”

Eilam, a former Israeli Ministry of Defense researcher, described the operation as unusually substantial. “This is a massive exercise, the biggest one in recent years, aimed at protecting the borders,” he said.

The analyst also connected the timing to Israel’s election. “It's all about making sure that the election day on October 27 will run smoothly. It's also a message to Iran and others: don't try to provoke us during election day, so nothing will be disrupted.”

The Israeli drills came days after Tehran conducted its own show of force. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired roughly 30 ballistic missiles spanning two distinct weapon classes.

That live-fire demonstration displayed Iranian strike capabilities and triggered renewed alerts involving commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. It also prompted the Israeli military to increase its alert level while maintaining maximum readiness for a targeted strike against Iran.

During a Wednesday visit to the IDF's Central Command, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned about the mounting danger. “Given the numerous warnings across all fronts and the sensitivity of the current period, the potential for escalation has increased,” Zamir said.

“To ensure better operational control on the ground, we have reinforced our troop deployments across all sectors, including moving the 98th Division into the area to strengthen security and stability,” Zamir added.

Eilam described the competing exercises as part of mutual deterrence. He said Iran’s drill was more intimidating from Israel’s perspective because Tehran launched missiles and prepared for a war with Israel, while Israel’s Sunday and Monday exercise targeted threats from Iranian proxies and allies near the border.

The drill also followed an Oct. 19 mission in which Israeli fighter jets and aerial refueling tankers traveled 800 miles across Syrian and Iraqi airspace to Iran’s border. Washington received advance notice and viewed the mission as a non-kinetic show of force after a broader strike package was postponed earlier in the month.

Despite those deterrence signals, Eilam warned that major exercises create a “risk of miscalculation,” particularly when one side could mistake large troop movements for attack preparations. He pointed to the 1973 Yom Kippur War as the classic warning from Israeli history.

Egypt and Syria used military exercises to help conceal troop buildups along Israel’s borders before that war. Israeli intelligence largely treated the movements as routine drills, enabling Egypt and Syria to achieve strategic surprise with a coordinated, two-front attack on Yom Kippur.

“The classic example in Israel is 1973, when Egypt and Syria conducted a major exercise just before the war that turned into the actual attack,” Eilam said. He added that Israel and Iran are closely watching each other while each suspects the other could strike first.

Eilam said there is a chance of “miscalculation — that each side suspects the other and strikes first by mistake.” He concluded that any eventual Israeli attack on Iran remains uncertain because it depends on U.S. authorization, while both sides currently signal readiness without seeking to begin a war.

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