Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, in his annual intelligence assessment to Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and the IDF general staff, warned on Monday that Israel will face an increasingly volatile region in the coming year, one that is “more tense and Islamist in nature than before,” Israel Hayom reported.

According to Kochavi, the area is “experiencing a series of crises, both regional and internal, which add to the overall sensitivity of the players involved and could lead to unexpected flare-ups.”

Kochavi said the annual intelligence assessment “is the result of a long and thorough process of research and analysis.”

“The work is led by the research unit and utilizes all of the existing intelligence-gathering bodies in the intelligence branch, as well as ones created in the passing year,” he said.