Israel said to escalate covert operations

Despite the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough in talks about Iran's nuclear program between Tehran and a U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad, Israeli military officials say covert operations against "enemy countries" are on the rise.

The military says it has also stepped up security for senior officers and military delegations traveling abroad amid intelligence that Iran and its key Arab proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, are plotting attacks on such targets, The Jerusalem Post reports.

"You almost won't find a point in time where something isn't happening somewhere in the world," Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the armed forces chief of staff, observed recently. "I'm escalating all those special operations."

He declined to give any details of the highly classified operations but declared 2012 would be a critical year in the confrontation with Iran over its contentious nuclear program.

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