He predicted that the military will continue to be a balancing power to the Muslim Brotherhood for the foreseeable future and did not think Egypt would get closer to Iran.

On the other hand, Kochavi expressed concern that the ascendance of the Muslim Brotherhood had led to a situation where “Hamas gained a portal, and a wall grew for the PA.”

On Syria, the IDF intelligence chief said that Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule will not survive the uprising.

Kochavi noted that there is a process of Iraqization in Syria where al-Qaida terrorists are slipping in to join the fight against Assad on a daily basis.

The biggest threats to Israel from the situation, noted Kochavi, stem from terrorists beginning to use the Syrian side of the Golan as a staging area for terror attacks, as groups have started to do from the Sinai and from the possibility of Syria giving its stock of unconventional weapons to terror groups.

On the flip side, Kochavi expressed skepticism about the possibility of Assad trying to provoke a conflict with Israel to try to distract attention from his internal problems.

On Iran, he said that the West has exerted increasing pressure, but that Iran has shown no signs of yielding.

The IDF is carefully planning for an expected harsh Iranian reaction of missiles raining down on Israel should it or the US strike Iran's nuclear facillities at any point.