The retiring Israeli naval commander recently said in an interview that the Israeli navy has intensified its activities in the Red Sea "significantly" in light of the growing Iranian threats to Israeli shipping.
Alf Eli Sharvit has officially refused to approve a series of attacks against Iranian ships attributed to Israel. But he defined Iranian activity on the high seas as a major Israeli concern, saying the navy had managed to strike wherever necessary to protect the country's economic and security interests.
"The State of Israel will protect the freedom of navigation around the world…," Sharvit told the AP news agency, days after the end of his five-year term.
During his tenure, Sharvit commanded a small but well-equipped force responsible for protecting Israel's Mediterranean shores as well as the Red Sea, which is an essential gateway to imports from Asia.
While the Israeli navy has an overwhelming advantage over its enemies in the region, it nonetheless faces a host of threats. They include Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has an arsenal of guided coastal missiles, and Hamas of Gaza, which has set up a small naval commando force, as well as challenges posed by Iranian military activity across the region.
One of the fleet's most important responsibilities is to protect Israel's natural gas platforms in the Mediterranean, which currently supply about 75 percent of the country's electricity.
In the north, Hezbollah did not hide its intentions to attack them in the event of war. The Iran-backed group successfully hit Israeli naval vessels during the war in 2006, killing four soldiers, and Hezbollah believes it has largely upgraded its missile stockpile since then. Israel says Iran continues to try to smuggle advanced weapons into Hezbollah.