Unit 101

Unit Profile

Unit 101 was an Israeli special operations unit founded and led by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. It was created to retaliate against a spate of Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians. According to Sharon, Gurion told him that "the Palestinians must learn that they will pay a high price for Israeli lives". Its commander was major Sharon, his deputy in command was Shlomo Baum. Unit 101 established small unit maneuvers, activation and insertion tactics that are utilized even today. Beside Sayeret MATKAL, Unit 101 is considered to be the unit with the most influence on the Israeli infantry oriented units including both special and conventional units.

Part from its tactical innovations, Unit 101 was also unique in two ways:

* It was the first time the IDF formed a brand new SF unit from scratch, rather then modify a previously exiting infantry oriented unit, like with the Golany brigade Special Reconnaissance Platoon.

* It was the first time the IDF formed a unit that received its orders directly from the IDF General Staff (the IDF High Command - MATKAL) and not by a lower sub-command.

Whatever the moral implications of its design, the tactic was remarkable effective politically because the terrorists simply could not keep up with the attrition. Thus attacks on Israel dropped off and the political objective of unit 101 was accomplished. After this point, the unit shifted to a more military focus and spent the remainder of its existence attacking harder targets. The unit came under harsh criticism after the Qibya massacre, which left 69 civilians dead.

Unit 101 was disbanded in late 1955.

Mission

* Direct action;
* Strategic reconnaissance;
* Unconventional warfare;
* Counterterrorism;
* Activities specified by Government.

Raised and Disbanded

raised: August 1953;
disbanded: 1955.

Headquarters

Tel Aviv, Israel.

History - Origin

The background to the founding of Unit 101 was the Palestinian infiltration into the young state of Israel from its Arab neighbours during which hundreds of Israelis were murdered. Israel's initial responses did not manage to contain this phenomenon. Although Jordanian and initially Egyptian authorities tried to comply with the cease-fire agreements, the decision was almost never carried out by troops on the ground.

So in 1951 the IDF formed Unit 30 - a classified Unit that belonged to the IDF South command. Unit 30 was designed to execute retaliation missions while operating in small and well-trained teams. However, Unit 30 operatives lacked sufficient and proper SF training, and performed poorly, so in 1952 the Unit was disbanded.

After a series of unsuccessful raids, the Israeli government decided in summer 1953 on the creation of a special forces unit, Israel's first. Reservist Ariel Sharon was called back to duty, given the rank of major and chosen to command the company-sized unit. Unit 101 was composed of 20-25 men, most of them former T'zanhanim (Paratroopers) and Unit 30 personnel.

Immediately after the foundation of Unit 101 in 1953, it began a series of retaliatory operations targeting bases and villages which served as bases for the infiltrators. On one of its first missions, the unit attacked the refugee camp in El-Bureij in Gaza Strip. The mission was aimed at Col. Mustafa Hafez, the chief of Egyptian intelligence in the Gaza Strip (and according to some, the Strip's de-facto ruler) who stood behind many of the early violent infiltrations into Israel.

According to the local UN officer Vagn Bennike, hand grenades were thrown into houses while the inhabitants were sleeping, and those trying to escape were mowed down with machine guns.

Only two months later, in October, a heavy shadow was cast on the unit, following its raid into the village of Qibya, in the northern West Bank then a part of Jordan. Up to 70 innocent civilians were killed in this operation. The mode of operation was similar to that of El-Bureig, but on a larger scale.

Aftermath

The widely condemned attack on Qibya made the Israeli leadership forbid the IDF to directly target innocent civilians in the future. By January 1954, the unit was disbanded and merged into the Paratroopers Brigade, and unit commander Ariel Sharon became the commander of the merged brigade. The unit existed independently five months, and three more years as a core inside the paratrooper brigade, before being disbanded after the 1956 Suez War.

Beginning with 1954, the unit's activities were mostly confined to military targets. In particular, up to 20 such attacks were carried out in 1955-1956, culminating in the Kalkiliya Police raid of October 1956 - a battle by a position of the Arab Legion in one of the old British police forts, during which 18 Israeli soldiers and up to a hundred Legionnaires died.

Once disbanded, Unit 101 was merged with T'zanhanim company. After the merger the joint outfit turned into a brigade size unit, composed of two battalions - 869 Battalion (made out of the original T'zanhanim company personnel) and 101 Battalion (made out of former Unit 101 personnel).

With the increase in manpower, the T'zanhanim unit became an elite infantry brigade rather the elite infantry company as it was before. This merger was actually quite ironic since the T'zanhanim officers were originally the biggest opposition against the creation of Unit 101 as simply didn't wanted another competitor for prestigious retaliation missions that until the formation of Unit 101 where their own bread and butter.

With the much larger personnel, Arik Sharon, the former Commanding Officer (CO) of Unit 101 and then the new CO of the T'zanhanim infantry brigade, was able to launch full scale SF attacks against Arab terrorists, and the T'zanhanim infantry brigade pretty much ruled all the Israeli SF operations in the rest of 1950's.

In the late 1950's the IDF noticed that since the T'zanhanim Unit had turned into a infantry brigade rather then the SF unit it was before, it was lacking a small SF unit. So in 1958 Abraham Arnan formed Sayeret MAT'KAL, answering directly to the IDF High Command.



SpecWar

Revisiting the Jordan Option

With hopes fading for two-state solution, ‘Jordan is Palestine’ option may be best alternative

by: Asaf Romirowsky

Amid the unrest now sweeping the Middle East, Israeli government and security officials are quietly discussing an unusual strategy that would pass the Palestinians’ political future off to Jordan. With the odds of a negotiated two-state solution at an all-time low, former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, Knesset Member Arieh Eldad, and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin resurrected the “Jordan is Palestine” model for regional peace.

Israeli officials fear that a Palestinian Intifada could break out on both sides of the Jordan River, and they seek to make it as much a Jordanian problem as an Israeli one.

In February, Human Rights Watch, the world’s self-proclaimed defender of minority rights, produced a 60-page report entitled, “Stateless Again: Palestinian-Origin Jordanians Deprived of their Nationality.” The paper details how Jordan deprives its Palestinian citizens of West Bank origins their basic rights, such education and healthcare. The report received scant attention back then. But the problem of Jordanian Palestinians, amidst growing unrest in the Hashemite Kingdom, has put the issue back on the front burner.

Israeli analysts worry that if the Jordanian government is to become more representative, it is possible that the country’s 72% Palestinian population could effectively take control. Jordan, in effect, could become “Palestine.”

The notion of a Palestinian controlled polity in Jordan is not new. From the war of Israeli independence in 1948 through the Six-Day War in 1967, Israeli politicians on the Left and Right advanced a policy of “Jordan is Palestine.” While defending Israel from Arab aggression, they proposed that Jordan become the Palestinian homeland. Israeli officials proposed various scenarios for a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation that fused the East Bank and West Bank of the Jordan River under one administration.

However, it is not as simple as that. Dan Schueftan, author of A Jordanian Option, correctly noted in 1986 that such an arrangement would be dependent on Israeli-Jordanian relations and how the two parties view potential threats from the Palestinian populations in their midst.

Inseparable security needs

To be sure, in the years after the Six-Day War, the Jordanian monarchy was wary of the Palestinians. Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat challenged the sovereignty of the country in 1970. After that, the kingdom had blocked the flow of Palestinians from the West Bank into the East Bank in order to preserve the kingdom’s Hashemite political structure. To a certain extent, the Jordanians renounced all claims to the West Bank in 1988, backed the creation of the Palestinian Authority in the early 1990s, and then made peace with Israel in 1994 in an attempt to prevent further flooding of Palestinians into their country.

To a certain extent Jerusalem has long looked to the Hashemite monarchy to maintain stability and security on both sides of the river. Both Amman and Jerusalem, in fact, recognize that their security needs are inseparable. Jordan has benefited from the periods of relative quiet and prosperity in Israel. Accordingly, Jordanian security forces have been increasingly involved in the West Bank, where they conduct joint training sessions with Palestinian forces. It has been a win-win-win situation for Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians.

The problem now is that Jordan’s traditional power centers are unhappy with the rise of Palestinian influence in the country. Tribal leaders resent Jordan’s Queen Rania, born in Kuwait to a family with roots in the West Bank, for her vocal advocacy of the Palestinian cause. In fact, 36 tribal leaders recently published their objections to Rania’s position, fearing that it will accelerate a slow Palestinian takeover of the kingdom.

With hopes fading for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this seemingly far-flung notion may become the last, best option. The problem is that it could embolden Palestinian radical groups, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, which derive much of their power from disillusioned Palestinians in the West and East Banks. With the rise of such groups in Jordan, the peace agreement between Amman and Jerusalem would be in peril.

Nevertheless, as uncomfortable as it might be for Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians to admit, the Jordanian option might be the best one they have.

Asaf Romirowsky is an adjunct scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former liaison officer from the Israeli Defense Forces to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.



Ynet News

A Middle Eastern Lesson

Arab brutality shows what would have happened to Mideast’s Jews without IDF protection

by: Guy Bechor

Here’s one of Aesop’s fables: One day, the wolves sent a delegation to the sheep and asked to make eternal peace with them. “The dogs are at fault for the conflict between us,” the wolves told the sheep. “They are the source of dispute. They bark at us, threaten us, and provoke us. Banish the dogs and there will be nothing to prevent eternal friendship and peace between us.” The foolish sheep believed this and banished the dogs. And so, without the protection the dogs used to offer, the sheep became easy prey for the wolves.

Now that the world is horrified by the brutality of the Syrian regime of terror, which mercilessly butchers its own citizens, we can see what would have happened to Jews in the Middle East without their own protective force, the IDF.

In this era, lies, hypocrisy and illusions reign supreme. Many people among us and in the world believe in eternal Mideastern peace, democracy and wonderful friendship among nations, and in the repeated propaganda whereby Israel is Goliath and the Arabs are David. Yet then came reality and proved them wrong.

As we recall, Tom Friedman already reprimanded Israel for failing to understand the new “era of freedom” in the Middle East; the same sentiments were uttered by other naïve Jews, a species that did not show great survival instincts over the history of European Jewry.

When one observes the fate of the Christians in the Middle East, one realizes what would have happened to the Jews had they been defeated, heaven forbid, or remained without protection. Christians are being butchered in states that experienced “democratic change” such as Iraq, Egypt and Tunisia; their churches are being burned, they’re prompted to escape, and their property is looted.

The Christians were misfortunate enough not to establish a state with a clear Christian identity, unlike the Jews. Naively, the Christians believed in partnership with other ethnicities, and now they’re paying the price – in Lebanon, where they’re becoming extinct, in the Palestinian Authority, and very soon in Syria as well.

Targeting the IDF

This is the oh-so-transparent reason why hostile elements wish to undermine Israel’s national Jewish identity. Their desire to establish “a state of all its citizens” – a bi-national or multi-national state – aims to expunge the state’s Jewish identity, thus slowly eliminating the Jewish presence around here.

Now, the great significance of Jewish nationalism, that is, Zionism, also becomes clear, after so many already slammed it or argued that its time has passed. It’s a pity that some Jews still believe these dangerous notions.

This is also the reason why outside elements – and to my regret domestic elements as well – try to weaken the IDF via needless commissions of inquiry, incitement and criticism, propaganda, and an effort to taint the army’s moral prestige. This is the reason while arrest warrants for IDF officers are issued worldwide. The main aim here is to weaken and destroy the only defensive force that protects Jews in the Middle East.

Yet when we see the real Middle East rising up and butchering its own people in Syria, it serves as a live history lesson for all of us. Truth does not shy away and it proves who the menace in this region is, and who is being threatened with extermination; who the murderer is, and who the victims are. Suddenly, the Arab propaganda that the world has been hearing for dozens of years is fading away. It has no power in the face of truth and history.

In the face of the massacre in the Syrian town of Deraa on Monday, a continuation of the glorious tradition of the Assad family, always keep in mind the fable about the sheep, which became an easy pretty because of their lethal naiveté. There is nothing new about the brutality and foolishness of nations; Aesop wrote about it in the Sixth Century already. It is us, Jews, who particularly need to remind ourselves of this



Ynet News

The Iron Dome Mentality

Instead of fighting terror through offensives, State of Israel increasingly fortifying itself
by: Hagai Segal

History has a thin sense of humor. Last Thursday, where the Iron Dome system passed its first test, was also the day where a Kornet anti-tank rocket hit a civilian bus around here for the first time. Seemingly, it was a random coincidence of two combat-related events, yet it provided us with some food for thought: By the time we solved one fortification problem, assuming we indeed resolved it, a new fortification problem emerged.

Will we now start to fortify every school bus near Gaza? The Kornet’s range is some five kilometers, so this is not a problem that can be resolved by slightly modifying bus routes near the border. If another missile or two hit a school bus, heaven forbid, parents in the western Negev may raise a hue and cry similar in scope to the one that demanded the Iron Dome until authorities caved in.

The authorities always cave in. Only a month ago, the State objected to the deployment of an Iron Dome battery near Beersheba, and now officials are already preparing to position a battery in every municipal region south of Palmahim. It’s hard to see the State rejecting a firm parental demand for the fortification of school buses against missiles.

In this case there is even no need to develop a new system; we have one ready: Windbreaker. RAFAEL engineers developed it in order to protect tanks, and there is no problem to modify it for civilian protection purposes. It will cost us a fortune, about NIS 1 million per Windbreaker (roughly $300,000), yet the Iron Dome case proves that money is no object under such circumstances.

A solution for every citizen

If the residents yell loud enough and our political leadership in any case prefers to fortify instead of taking over Gaza, the Treasury eventually signs the check. Hence, soon we shall be reaching the day where the State equips every southern bus with the Windbreaker system, just as in the past it fortified Judea and Samaria buses against stones and later against gunfire.

The terrorists will then convene an emergency session with all their engineers and come up with a more advanced system to kill Jews. Next, RAFAEL’s engineers will again be urged to develop a winning Israeli response to the advanced Palestinian tactic, and so on and so forth.

The State, which once upon a time promised a solution for every settler, will one day have to fortify every citizen. Perhaps they will implant some kind of genius chip into our ears that will warn us of approaching stabbing attacks and explosive devices. It will cost us a fortune, but we are willing to do anything here to fight Hamas.

In the past, we argued that the best defense is offence. Today, we put our trust in Iron Domes. Indeed, while the enemy charges, the people of Israel go into the trenches.

Iron Dome in action

Ynet News

Missile Fired at IDF Tank Thwarted by Windbreaker Shield

Terrorists fire RPG at IDF tank near Khan Younis; new Trophy system prevents hit; no injuries on Israeli side; Palestinians say warplanes, choppers seen above city

An RPG was fired at an IDF tank traveling east towards the city of Khan Younis in Gaza Tuesday afternoon. Soldiers returned fire, and the Palestinians claim one person was injured from artillery fire in the area.

The anti-tank missile that was fired towards the tank was thwarted by the Trophy missile protection system, which was used for the first time during operational activity. The missile exploded at a large distance from the tank, preventing damage, the army said.

Eyewitnesses said the RPG hit the tank and set it on fire. The IDF confirmed an attack on a force patrolling the border, but said the incident did not result in any injuries or damage.

According to the Palestinians, IDF forces opened fire on the terror cell behind the RPG attack. Israeli warplanes and helicopters were seen circling above Khan Younis, sources in Gaza said.

The spokesman for Gaza's rescue services, Adham Abu Selmiya, said one person was injured from artillery fire targeting the terror cell east of Khan Younis. The injured man was evacuated to a hospital in Deir el-Balah.

No one claimed responsibility for the RPG attack, but the Ali Abu Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine, said it had fired three mortars towards Israel shortly before the RPG attack from the same area. The IDF said it did not know of any mortar fire towards Israel.

Attacks involving anti-tank fire against IDF soldiers are relatively scarce, as Palestinian terrorists focus mostly on planting explosives along the security fence separating Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The IDF has launched a number of strikes in Gaza over the past few days in response to the continued rocket fire emanating from the Strip.



by Ynet News

Israeli Inquiry: Flotilla Raid was Legal

Turkel Commission says deadly May 31 commando takeover of Turkish 'aid' vessel was 'legal pursuant to rules of international law,' soldiers opened fire in self-defense. On blockade: Israel not trying to starve Gazans.

An Israeli inquiry commission defended the actions of its troops during last year's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla sailing from Turkey.

Israeli naval commandos killed nine Turkish nationals aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara on May 31 after passengers resisted the takeover of the vessel.

The nearly 300-page report released Sunday by the government-appointed Turkel Commission said the actions of the soldiers "were found to be legal pursuant to the rules of international law" and that they opened fire in self-defense. .

The commission cleared the soldiers of any use of unnecessary violence, stating: "It is possible to determine that the IDF soldiers acted professionally and with great presence of mind in light of the extreme violence which they hadn't expected.

"This professionalism was evident in the fact that they continued to exchange their lethal weapons for the less lethal option and visa versa in order to give a response that was appropriate to the nature of the violence directed at them."

According to the commission, the soldiers were the violence caught the soldiers by surprise when they boarded the Marmara. "The decision-makers didn't have any prior knowledge of the violent reception planned by the IHH members and their inability to identify the intentions of the IHH directly affected the planning and execution of the operation."

The commission members found that incomplete intelligence gathering wasn't the only reason for the lack of preparation: "The possibility that an organized group, armed with lethal weapons was on board the Marmara and set to take active measures against attempts to board the ship wasn't taken into account."

The IDF received a great deal of praise from the Turkel committee for placing senior officers on the scene – including the navy commander. "This increased the chain of command's awareness of the developments as they happened, which helped them reach decisions efficiently, at the right time as the incident developed."

The decision to use the commandos in the operation was also praised. "The decision is compatible with the international practice which is used in naval operations, even when not considered an armed confrontation," the report stated. In addition, the commission members wrote praised the manner in which the IDF handled the transfer of the passengers to Israel, stressing the coordination between the governmental offices.

IHH members used live fire
The committee also addressed the decision to stop the flotilla before it arrived in Gaza: "We insist that the governmental and military echelons... Took into consideration Israel's commitments to international law during the preparation stages and the management of the operation.

"The demand to provide a balance to these commitments was in line with Israel's general interests to prevent political de-legitimization and harm Israel's image," the committee stated.

On the decision to use force, the committee members noted that: "The IHH members acted with violence towards the IDF soldiers on the Marmara by arming themselves with various types of weapons, including iron rods, knives, axes, clubs and metal objects.

"The weapons were capable of killing and severely injuring. In addition, the violent events were evident in the way the IHH organized the joint attack on the IDF soldiers. The IHH members used firearms against the soldiers during the incident."

Meanwhile, the Turkel Commission also examined the legitimacy of the blockade on Gaza. Its conclusions reveal that the blockade is proportional and that human rights in Gaza weren't violated by Israel.

The committee stated that after examining the material it was presented with, including documents from human rights groups, it found no evidence that Israel was trying to deny Gazans from receiving foodstuffs or that Israel was trying to "destroy or weaken (Gaza's) population through starvation."

The committee noted that in their statements before the committee, human rights organizations' representatives, including those from the Doctors for Human Rights group, confirmed that during the relevant period, there was a sufficient amount of food in the Gaza Strip and that the problem was mainly an economic one, meaning, the population lacked the necessary funds to purchase food.

The Turkel Commission said the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave suffers from a 'lack of nutritional stability', not starvation, and determined that the Israeli naval blockade is legal in accordance with international law.

The commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, included five Israeli members and two international observers - Brig. Gen. Ken Watkin of Canada and Lord David Trimble of Northern Ireland.

The bloodshed drew heavy international condemnation directed at Israel and forced it to ease the blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.







Ynet News

Open Letter From a War Criminal

IDF reservist who served in Gaza war writes to person behind ‘list of war criminals’

by Yoav Keren

To be honest, I was a little insulted. I looked for myself on the list of 200 Operation Cast Lead war criminals published online last week but didn’t find what I was looking for. I performed almost a month of reserve duty during the operation, yet nothing; no mention. Not even a small one.

Even a low-ranking female soldier got to enter the list of war criminals, and was even graced with a Facebook photo in civilian clothing, engaged in yoga. Not to mention those pilots; finally we could see their faces (and also their addresses and military ID numbers)

As it turns out, the Israeli who produced the list – and there is almost no doubt it’s an Israeli, who is intimately familiar with the IDF – did not do a particularly thorough job. In any case, he missed me.

I served in the Gaza Division war room for 26 days and saw everything in real time. I saw how every time we had to curb Qassam fire from populated areas, officials considered it seven times and meticulously calculated the firing range and angle, as not to hurt civilians by mistake.

I also saw how, to be on the safe side, the army consulted with its legal advisor and with a representative of the Coordination and Liaison Administration who were regularly deployed in the war room.

I saw the great seriousness in addressing a water pipe that burst in Rafah, and the kind of effort invested in order to bring food into the Strip and allow ambulances to evacuate wounded Palestinians from the war zone.

I also participated in assessment sessions with the division commander; a major part of them pertained to humanitarian issues.

I walked around Sderot, which looked like a ghost town after sustaining dozens of Qassam rockets, and I also saw the Grad missiles making their way to Ashkelon without anybody being able to stop them. Believe me, it’s not a heart-warming sight.



I’m no longer afraid
In short, I was there, and according to the twisted standards of the various list producers this apparently turns me into a war criminal as well.

Here’s a small confession: In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, I was thinking of posting photographs from my reserve service on my Facebook page. I’m not talking about photos alongside Palestinian detainees, heaven forbid; just regular images of me sitting with the guys at the division’s canteen. I didn’t do it because I was afraid that one day, when I travel abroad, these photos may incriminate me.

Yet I’m no longer afraid, because I realized that I’m in good company. Not only the army chief and Southern Command chief and Air Force chief, but also anyone who serves in the IDF is by definition a war criminal apparently. And as any soldier who walks the streets in uniform may find himself in one blacklist or another, even if he serves as a cook in an Air Force munitions base, I have no reason to hide.

So for the benefit of the producer of the abovementioned list: My name is Yoav Keren, I’m a reserve major, and my personal ID number is 5030397. You can find out my address on your own. So the next time you update the list of war criminals, you can add me too. But if you use a photo from Facebook, at least make sure it’s a good one.





Ynet News

Israel Didn’t Kill Arafat

Rumors that Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responsible for Arafat’s death false.

by Dov Weisglass

Yasser Arafat died six years ago. Ariel Sharon viewed him as one of Israel’s worst enemies and held him responsible for the outbreak of the second Intifada. Hence, we invested great diplomatic efforts in order to convince the world, and mostly the US Administration, of the vital need to keep him away from ruling the Palestinian Authority in practice – for the sake of the Israelis, the Palestinians, and mostly for salvaging what appeared as a slim chance for peace at the time.

We explained that even if Arafat does not “squeeze the trigger” himself, he creates a culture of terror, nurtures a regime of armed gangs, guides and encourages murders and riots, and mostly, funds terror. We handed over plenty of information on these issues to the Americans. His lies in denying his involvement in purchasing the Karin A weapon-smuggling ship combined with accurate Israeli intelligence information about his personal role in funding a specific terror attack prompted the US Administration to conclude that as long as Arafat is in place, there will be no peace, security, or calm.

As a result of this, President George W. Bush declared in June 2002 that a different Palestinian leadership was needed, urging the Palestinian people to choose a new leadership that does not accept terror.

The absolute American boycott, the ongoing pressure on European leaders to join it, and Israel’s decision to shun any global visitors who came to meet him combined to remove Arafat from the decisive position of influence he held up until then. Simultaneously, a different, responsible leadership emerged in the PA that succeeded, among other things due to massive global aid, to bring quiet, security, stability, and economic prosperity. All of that would not have happened under Arafat’s rule.

Operation called off
Even though Sharon viewed the termination of Arafat’s active leadership as a vital political and security need, he never permitted to physically harm him. All the rumors that Israel is “responsible” for his death are foolish lies. I recall that at the end of 2003, Israel was discussing a certain military move within Arafat’s offices. Once the army made it clear to Sharon that the site held dozens of gunmen and that Arafat may be hurt in the gunfight, the operation was called off.

Even after Arafat fell ill, Sharon acted decently towards him. In a late-night meeting, during a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign minister Javier Solana, an urgent phone call was received from a senior Palestinian official. Arafat is very sick and must be taken out of Ramallah for medical tests. His office is surrounded by IDF forces. Will Israel permit him to leave?

I phoned Sharon at his home, and he promptly gave his approval. The next day, Solana called again: The doctors believed Arafat’s illness is grave and he must be flown to Europe. Will Israel allow him to depart, and most importantly, to return? I called Sharon from the train en route to London. He asked for some time to weigh the request. He explained that according to the defense establishment, Arafat’s medical condition is not that grave, and added that “we have no interest in him again traveling in Europe and worldwide.”

Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official who maintained good ties with us called, and said that according to the doctors Arafat is about to die. Should this happen in Ramallah, after Israel prevented treatment abroad, he said, “just like for 2,000 years you were trying to explain that you did not crucify Jesus, for the next 2,000 years you will be explaining that you are not responsible for Arafat’s death.”

I phoned Sharon and informed him of this. He sure knew how to make a decision: “Inform Solana that we’ll permit him to leave,” he ruled immediately. This happened, and the rest is history.





Ynet News

Israel slates missile shield for 2015

Eyeing Iran, Israel slates missile shield for 2015

Production schedule of defense network combining rocket interceptors, kamikaze satellites corresponds to Israel's assessment of when Iran might develop nuclear weaponry. Project director: We are talking about hermetic protection.

Israel's multi-layered air defense network will be fully deployed by 2015, combining short-range rocket interceptors with kamikaze satellites that blow up ballistic missiles in space, officials said on Monday.

Unveiled at a government-sponsored aerospace conference in Jerusalem, the production schedule corresponds to Israel's assessment of when Iran might develop nuclear weaponry.


Should the Islamic republic get the bomb, which could embolden allies Syria and Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas in their own fights against the Jewish state.

"In the next two to five years, we will turn this vision into a reality," Colonel Zvika Haimovitch of the Israeli air defense corps said in a speech. "Within the coming five years, we will see this doctrine implemented."

Spurred by Hezbollah salvoes in the 2006 Lebanon war, Israel developed Iron Dome, which shoots down rockets with ranges of 5 to 70 km (3 to 45 miles). David's Sling, an interceptor for more powerful rockets, should be ready by 2013, Haimovitch said.

The next tier of the shield is Israel's Arrow interceptor, which has been operational for a decade and is designed to knock out Iranian or Syrian ballistic missiles at high altitudes.

An Arrow III upgrade will launch a booster-rigged satellite beyond Earth's atmosphere to collide with the missile, said project director Yoav Turgeman of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

"We are talking about hermetic protection," Turgeman said. "Even if the new Arrow misses the incoming threat, it will be far enough from Israel's borders to allow for a secondary interception."

'Enemy has achieved aerial supremacy'
Turgeman said Arrow III, which like its predecessors is being underwritten by the United States, would be ready by 2014 or 2015. Its first live trial is expected in 2011. The projected cost of each interceptor missile is $2 million to $3 million.

Arrow III had previously been swathed in secrecy. Asked about the decision to go public with it at the International Aerospace Conference and Exhibition, an Israeli defense official said: "Everything was done with the full backing and initiative of the Defense Ministry, given the current state of affairs."

He appeared to be referring to Iran's uranium enrichment in defiance of international pressure to curb the process, which can produce fuel for bombs. Tehran says it is for energy only.

Though the Israelis have hinted they could attack Iran pre-emptively, there are big tactical and diplomatic hurdles.

The missile shield -- which officials envisage patching in, when needed, to US interceptors such as Aegis -- suggests Israel is weighing a more defensive posture, girded with the deterrence offered by its own assumed atomic arsenal.

Among the advantages of Arrow III cited by Turgeman was that its interception of a nuclear missile would not produce toxic debris, as this would burn up on re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Such planning is hard to reconcile with Israel's vow, dating back decades, to deny its enemies access to nuclear weaponry.

Arrow veteran Uzi Rubin raised another possible disincentive to a pre-emptive Israeli attack now: retaliation by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas guerrillas from Gaza.

In the absence of reliable air defenses, Rubin said in a speech, Israeli cities can be hit by as many as 13,000 rockets and missiles, some accurate to within 500 meters (yards) and carrying warheads with as much as a half-ton of explosives.

The greater Tel Aviv area alone could expect to suffer 1,500 strikes -- enough to guarantee damage to military headquarters, paralyze the economy and gut morale. Dozens of Iraqi Scud missiles sowed chaos in Tel Aviv during the 1991 Gulf war.

Rubin said the face-off risked forcing a de facto parity on Israel, which has long relied on overwhelming force of arms to compensate for its geographical smallness and numerous foes.

"The enemy has achieved aerial supremacy without even having planes," Rubin said.





Ynet News

Israel's Military Industry

Israel produces a wide range of products from ammunition, small arms and artillery pieces to sophisticated electronic systems and the world's most advanced tank.

Having to fight five major wars in its first four decades, Israel built a comprehensive standing army – the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) - and furnished it with an arsenal of highly advanced military hardware. The government, which owns three major defense firms, also encouraged the formation of private companies to equip the IDF. The development of a sophisticated defense industry inevitably led to exports, which today account for a majority of its revenues and allows the country's defense industry to compete against some of the largest companies in the world for foreign contracts, in addition to producing many of the arms needed for Israel's own defense.

Faced with a shrinking market for military hardware over the last decade and a half, Israeli defense concerns have made a concerted effort to employ their research and development teams in devising products for non-military markets and, more frequently, in adapting defense technology for civilian applications. Indeed, many of the most innovative products developed by Israel's civilian high tech industry, especially in the field of telecommunications, trace their origins to military technology.

The modern defense industry in Israel was set in motion in the early 1920s. Faced by an increasingly hostile Arab population, the Jewish community began to manufacture homemade hand grenades and explosives. In the early 1930s, members of the Haganah (the pre-state Jewish underground defense organization) set up clandestine small arms factories, which became the Israel Military Industries (IMI) in 1948. In the first two decades after independence, IMI produced many of the basic weapons used by the IDF, including the Uzi sub-machine gun. The more costly aircraft and other advanced weapons were procured from foreign suppliers, principally France.

The major catalyst for Israel's metamorphosis from a small-arms manufacturer to a producer of sophisticated military systems came after the 1967 Six-Day War. During the war, France imposed an embargo on arms sales to Israel, including the Mirage planes already on order from the Dassault aircraft factory. When the United States became the primary supplier of combat aircraft, Israel began to develop its own production capability. The government-owned Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), founded as a maintenance facility in 1953, soon began developing and assembling a variety of its own aircraft, including the Kfir - a replacement for the Mirage - as well as the Arava and Nesher planes. At the same time, IAI's contacts with US suppliers advanced from subcontracting jobs to joint ventures with Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. As a result, employment at IAI grew rapidly from 4,000 to a peak of 14,000 in the late 1980s.

The growing sophistication of Israel's defense industry gave it the confidence to develop an all-Israeli military aircraft, the Lavi. Over the first half of the 1980s, IAI developed avionics, electronics and weapons systems for the aircraft, and by 1986 the first prototype had taken to the air. However, the government concluded that it was unable to finance such an ambitious undertaking, and the project was canceled a year later. Shorn of the Lavi, IAI began to develop a variety of products in the military and civilian spheres - such as advanced radar systems, precision weapon systems, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and commercial and military aircraft conversion - many of which were based on the technology developed during the Lavi project.

There are approximately 150 defense firms in Israel, with combined revenues of an estimated $3.5 billion. The three largest entities are the government-owned IAI, IMI and the Rafael Arms Development Authority, all of which produce a wide range of conventional arms and advanced defense electronics. The medium-sized privately owned companies include Elbit Systems and the Tadiran Group, which focus mainly on defense electronics. The smaller firms produce a narrower range of products. In all, the industry employs close to 50,000 people, all of whom share a commitment to high levels of research and development and the ability to make use of the IDF's combat experience.

Israel's defense exports are coordinated and regulated through SIBAT - the Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization - which is run by the Ministry of Defense. SIBAT's tasks include licensing all defense exports as well as marketing products developed for the IDF, from electronic components to missile boats and tanks. Each year, SIBAT publishes a defense sales directory, an authoritative guide to what the industry has to offer.

Despite their far-reaching client base, even the biggest local firms are relatively small players in the global defense market. With increasing competition from the major world aerospace players, Israeli companies tend to specialize in niche markets, or have sought to combine forces through mergers or joint marketing efforts. In addition, declining global defense spending has provided them with new opportunities as foreign governments seek to upgrade their existing arsenal rather than buy new equipment. This policy is typified by the Phantom 2000, a sweeping modernization of the F-4 aircraft that Israel acquired from the US in the early 1970s.

In the wake of the Lavi's cancellation, IAI diversified and expanded with funding from the United States, developing the Amos and Ofeq satellites and the world's first operational anti-missile missile system, the Arrow. IAI's unmanned air vehicles (UAV or pilotless aircraft) systems, including the Hunter, have now become standard for military establishments in many countries around world. The company is also engaged in the repair and maintenance of aircraft and helicopters, and in upgrading aircraft with state-of-the-art avionics. It also designs, develops and manufacturers naval and ground systems, electronic warfare and radar equipment and missiles. Company sales in 2000 amounted to $2.18 billion, of which exports accounted for $1.7 billion. In the same year, IAI signed some 1,600 new contracts worth approximately $2.6 billion.

Israel Military Industries (IMI) was founded in 1933, as a secret small-arms plant. After the establishment of the State in 1948, it was operated by the Ministry of Defense, developing and manufacturing assault weapons - from the classic Uzi sub-machine gun to the Tavor assault rifle - heavy ammunition, aircraft and rocket systems, armored vehicles like the Merkava tank, and integrated security systems. In 1990, IMI was converted into a government-owned company. Altogether IMI manufactures some 350 products and employs over 4,000 people. In addition to Israel and the US, IMI has distributors in a number of countries, including Norway, Belgium, the Philippines and Greece. Some 60% of its revenues, worth approximately $550 million, come from exports.

The third government-owned defense firm, the Rafael Arms Development Authority, developed and now manufactures Python and Popeye "smart" airborne missiles, both of which have co-production agreements with major US aerospace companies. In addition, its products include such varied categories as passive armor, naval decoys, observation balloon systems, acoustic torpedo countermeasures, ceramic armor, air-breathing propulsion, and air-to-air, air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missiles.

Elbit Systems, based in Haifa, develops, manufactures and integrates advanced, high-performance defense electronics systems, focusing on upgrade programs for aircraft and armored vehicles. The company also manufactures command, control and communication (C3) systems, and upgrades in weapons platforms and electronic systems and products for both Western and former Eastern bloc countries. In 2000, Elbit Systems merged with another major private-sector defense concern, El-Op Electro-Optics Industries Ltd, and combined sales reached $591 million, up from $436 million the previous year.

The second major private sector defense firm is the Tadiran-Elisra Group, whose subsidiaries specialize in defense electronics. The group's Elisra Electronics offers a range of electronic warfare systems for the military, including radar warning systems, active countermeasure systems, comprehensive self-protection systems, ESM and ELINT systems, and sophisticated communication links complemented by extremely lightweight components and super components. It employs a staff of over 800, two thirds of whom are engineers. Tadiran Electronic Systems designs and produces a wide range of military applications, including intelligence, reconnaissance and electronic warfare and specialized naval communication systems, all tailored to customer specifications. Tadiran Spectralink specializes in pilot-rescue electronic equipment while BVR Systems develops innovative flight simulators for fighter pilots. The group, which is controlled by Koor Industries, announced sales of $284 million in 2000.

In addition to Elbit and Tadiran-Elisra, there are scores of smaller, more specialized defense firms in the private sector, including: Cyclone Aviation, which upgrades helicopters and makes aircraft components; Urdan Industries, which through its Associated Steel Foundries makes many of the components of the Merkava tank; Magal Security Systems, whose products include sensors for security perimeter fences and explosive-detection devices for airports and other public facilities; BVR Technologies, which produces airborne collision-avoidance security systems, trainers for pilots and for the use of "smart" weapons, and a variety of simulators for combat training and pilot debriefing; the Elul Group, a complex of companies which specialize in development and coordination of defense business for Israeli firms abroad, and for international firms in Israel; RSL Electronics, which produces both airborne electronics systems for airplanes and helicopters and muzzle-velocity radar for field artillery; and Soltam, which makes both mortars and heavy artillery pieces as well as Israel's most popular line of stainless steel kitchen equipment.

Since the end of the Cold War, the global defense industry, including the IDF, has had to cope with declining military spending. In response, many private companies have either merged or reduced staff, or diversified into civilian markets, with some companies fully spinning off their civilian activities into separate businesses. Many of the high technology products designed by Israeli companies for such areas as the Internet, medical electronics and robotics, are based on technology originally developed by the IDF or the defense industries. Friendly Robotics is one notable high-tech start-up that traces its origins to the army. Its top executives worked in army technology units and the company's robot lawnmowers are based on advanced missile guidance technology, providing accurate positioning and navigation functions to perform its tasks. Among the few private sector defense firms with civilian activities, Elisra designs, develops and produces electronic and microwave applications for the commercial market.

In 1968, IAI acquired the rights to manufacture the Jet Commander executive aircraft from the US company Rockwell, which eventually evolved into the IAI's Astra. In the 1990s, IAI began producing the Galaxy executive jet in partnership with the Pritzker family of Chicago. In April 2001, the international aerospace firm General Dynamics contracted to purchase the Galaxy firm for approximately $600 million. In addition, in the late 1970s Bedek, a division of IAI specializing in aircraft maintenance, began overhauling and refitting Boeing 707 airliners, and today the upgrade of commercial aircraft has become a major business for IAI. The civilian content of the new contracts signed in 2000 was worth $1.1 billion, or 42% of total new contracts. IMI has fewer civilian businesses but has developed technology for electronic wallets and computerized payment systems.

Rafael develops military technologies for civilian use through its Rafael Development Corp., a joint venture with the private sector Discount Investment Group. One of these projects used miniaturization and guidance techniques to produce a transmitter and camera the size of a vitamin capsule. The capsule is swallowed by a patient and pictures of the gastrointestinal tract are then taken by the camera for use by diagnosticians, substituting for invasive diagnostic procedures. The system, which was developed by Given Imaging, was the brainchild of a missile guidance expert.





Global Security

Disaster: F-16I Crashes in South

Pilot, navigator missing after Air Force's most advanced plane crashes during routine training flight. No problems were reported before tragedy occurred. IDF, police rescue units search area

An Israeli Air Force two-seater F-16I airplane crashed late Wednesday evening during training in the south of Israel, near Mitzpe Ramon. The pilot and navigator have been described as missing, and many IDF troops were involved in searching for them. Pieces of the aircraft have been located.

Four F-16I aircraft, the air force's newest plane, took part in routine training over the Ramon Crater in good weather. At some point, one of the planes suddenly fell to the ground from a height of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet), apparently failing to report any problem before the disaster. Another aircraft observed the plunge but apparently did not realize it would hit the ground.

It appears that human error was the cause of the accident, perhaps loss of orientation, but all other planes of this type were grounded immediately. Within a few days it should be possible to rule out technical fault as the cause of the disaster.

The aircraft took off at about 8 pm for a training exercise. The IDF lit up the area using flares in efforts to locate the pilots. Police rescue units were also called.

Dozens of residents of the area took to the streets to observe the search efforts. To the west of Mitzpe Ramon, helicopters could be seen circling over the crater. "I saw a mushroom cloud of smoke and then after a few minutes lots of flares," a resident told Ynet. "The helicopters are circling above the site of the crash all the time."

Just four months ago six IDF soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Romania. The aircraft crashed into a mountain the center of the country during joint training with Romanian forces. Four pilots and two mechanics died in the disaster, as well as a Romanian observer.

Just over a year ago, Assaf Ramon died in a training accident south of the Mount Hebron. Ramon was the son of the first Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. The F-16 Assaf Ramon was flying crashed during a routine high-altitude training flight. The aircraft disappeared from radar control screens and radio contact with the pilot was lost. The scope of the tragedy was soon apparent as well as the double tragedy of Rona Ramon.

The F-16I (the "I" stands for Israel) is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and these aircraft entered service in Israel six years ago. The aircraft is able to carry air-to-air heat-seeking missiles manufactured by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. as well as US-made radar-guided missiles.

The aircraft also carries other advanced systems developed specially to meet Israel's needs, as well as enlarged fuel tanks which increase its flying range by 50% without harming its other capabilities.




Ynet News

Gaza Conflict Moves to Virtual World

A shadow war between pro-Israeli and pro-Hamas forces is taking place on the Internet — and it is getting fierce.

If you're one of millions of Americans who use social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter or participate in virtual worlds like "Second Life," don't be surprised if you get sucked into a war thousands of miles away in Gaza.

Support groups have sprouted up on Facebook, drawing in thousands of members on both sides of the conflict. Protests erupted in "Second Life"'s virtual Israel, where demonstrators showed up to voice support for Hamas and the Palestinians.

People are using Twitter updates to tell the world what they're witnessing on the ground or how they feel about the news. And videos of the carnage in Gaza have been posted on YouTube, including some from the Israeli government.

On Facebook, the pro-Hamas group "Stop Genocide in Palestine" has more than 117,500 members. On the other side, "I Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" has more than 65,000 members.

Some Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to Israeli or Palestinian flags, bloody images of war or other partisan graphics to get their messages across.

Facebook users can use applications to set messages in their status bars expressing affiliation with one side or the other. An application called "Qassam Count" enables users to voice their support for Israel by automatically updating their status bar when rockets are fired from Gaza into the Jewish state.

Joel Leyden, an American working in Israel, said he founded the "Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" group to give members a place to voice their opinions and grievances about the conflict.

"Facebook, as we all know, was created by a university student for university students, and it's turned into the number one watering hole for the international community," Leyden said. "That can't be better illustrated than how it's being used today with the war here that we have with Hamas."

Thousands of messages have been posted to the group. Moderators watch over the conversation in Israel, Europe and North America.

Leyden said he's received dozens of death threats since he started the group.

"I've served in [the Israeli army] in combat and in the spokesperson's office and with the border police," he said. "I've never felt more in a dangerous environment than I do here. Everyone is trying to make as much noise as they can to break through."

Messages like "death to the Jews" and "we can't wait to murder you" have been posted to the group, he said, but since positing pro-peace messages to the site in Arabic, Leyden said things have toned down considerably.

None of the pro-Palestinian groups on Facebook responded to a request for comment.

The operators of Facebook, meanwhile, are taking pains to ensure that the online war doesn't get out of hand.

Facebook takes its "Terms of Use" policy seriously and removes groups that violate that policy from the Web site, spokeswoman Elizabeth Linder told FOXNews.com in an e-mail.

"We are sensitive to and subsequently take down Groups that threaten violence towards people. We also remove groups that express hatred towards individuals and groups that are sponsored by recognized terrorist organizations," Linder wrote.

Facebook on Thursday removed a Web site called "Hitler Took the Right Decision With Jewish People," saying the group violated its policies.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views," Linder wrote. "As such, we do not aim to control the discourse on Facebook.

"Rather, we take swift action to remove content that violates our policies. Our goal is to strike a very delicate balance between giving Facebook users the freedom to express their opinions and beliefs, while also ensuring that individuals and groups of people do not feel threatened or endangered."

In the virtual world "Second Life," SL Israel saw protests from virtual pro-Palestinian activists when the violence in Gaza flared up.

"Lots of people yelling," the founder of SL Israel, who goes by Beth Odets in the game, told Second Life blogger Wagner James Au. "They were going on and on with slurring obscenities about murderous Israeli forces, etc."

Odets began ejecting the most offensive protesters from the area, she told Au.

"I had to be careful not to boot people who didn't actually do anything wrong," she said.

She temporarily had to close SL Israel to outsiders to quell the protests, but protesters kept coming. Eventually, however, people came who wanted to talk.

Twitter user Ahuvah Berger, who lives in Israel, said she has been using the network to update her contacts about terrorism for years.

"I believe it is very important to help get our side of the story using a medium in which I already have a large audience who 'know' me," she wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com.

"As we know Israel is not good at PR, and as the perceived aggressor it needs to show the world why it does and continues to do what it feels necessary to protect its citizens," she wrote.

"I have encountered a lot of nasty Twitter users who believe in their own propaganda and when confronted with facts, not only facts emerging from Israel, they resort to calling me a Nazi and a perpetrator of a Palestinian holocaust."

Ron Kutas of Stand With Us, a pro-Israel group, said taking the war onto the Internet has its problems.

"It's opening up the door to anybody who wants to say anything," Kutas said. "It's very hard for people to distinguish between emotional commentary about the conflict and factual journalism about the conflict ... you have an open forum and people who are not educated about the conflict are being told misinformation all the time."

Kutas said he uses Qassam Count to spark discussion with friends who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.

"People who I'm friends with who have opinions that are not the same as mine, we have dialogues about real issues and real facts. When that happens it's a great thing," he said.

Asked if any of his friends had chosen not to associate with him on Facebook because of his pro-Israel activism, Kutas replied, "I don't know of anything of that sort, but I should look into that."





Fox News

IDF & Shin Bet Confirm Involvement in Gaza Car Blast

Hamas says Army of Islam commander killed in airstrike near police headquarters, but eyewitnesses say explosion occurred inside vehicle.

IDF strike: The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed on Wednesday that they were responsible for the Gaza operation in which Army of Islam commander Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam was killed.

Earlier on Wednesday, a car exploded near a Hamas police station in Gaza City. The al-Arabiya network reported that one person was killed in the blast and another three were injured.

The man killed in the explosion was a senior field commander in the Army of Islam, one of the organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Strip.

According to a source in one of the Gaza organizations, the man was killed in a new Hyundai car which recently arrived in the Strip from Israel as part of the easing of the blockade.

Israel has allowed dozens of vehicles to enter Gaza.

The source told Ynet that the Hamas interior ministry had recently called on Palestinian buying the new cars to have them checked thoroughly, "for fear that Israel has planted listening devices or even booby-trapped them."

Palestinian sources said the explosion rocked the Ansar area, where many of the security headquarters are located, sending up a plume of thick black smoke. Emergency teams and Hamas security forces rushed to the scene.

Eyewitnesses said the car was travelling on the road parallel to the police headquarters when the explosion occurred. Despite the claims of an airstrike, other residents said the explosion occurred inside the vehicle.

Adham Abu Selmia, a spokesman for the Strip's medical services, told Hamas journal al-Risala that the man killed in the incident was Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam, 27, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camo.

The man was said to be a senior commander in the extreme Army of Islam organization, whose members have clashed with Hamas forces. He was previously involved in terror attacks on Israeli targets, and recently conspired with Hamas members to carry out terror attacks through Sinai, against American and Israeli targets.





Ynet news

Message to the World

by Ron Ben Yishay

News report about Hezbollah arms smuggling prepares world for possible war.

One should carefully read the report published by reputable French daily Le Figaro Tuesday about the Hezbollah arms smuggling operation. The report includes credible information, at an unprecedented scope and detail, regarding Iran’s effort to arm and fortify the Lebanese Shiite group with active Syrian assistance.

However, the main reason why this report deserves special attention has to do with the messages inherent in it and the timing of its publication. We can assume, with great degree of certainty, that whoever provided the reputable French newspaper with sensitive intelligence information wanted to achieve several aims.

The first aim is to slam the facts in the face of international public opinion, so that the UN, the West, Arab states and the global media won’t pretend to be surprised if and when Israel undertakes powerful, destructive strikes. Such actions would target the immense rocket and missile arsenal in Lebanon, as well as the states that contributed to establishing it, that is, Lebanon and Syria.

The French report is not the first one aiming to achieve this objective. In recent months, Israeli and global media outlets published a significant number of stories accompanied by detailed aerial photographs showing Hezbollah men training in Syria on using various types of missiles. The reports also revealed that Hezbollah places these arms in the midst of civilian populations and far away from Israel’s border, to make it difficult for the IDF to target the weapons (and so that Israel would be accused of war crimes against civilians should it act.)

In order to expose the plots of Hezbollah and its patrons, IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkott presented journalists (about three months ago) with detailed information and photos about Hezbollah’s deployment and arms depots at the southern Lebanon town of al-Khiyam. The efforts to prepare global public opinion in advance already proved themselves in the second Intifada and ahead of Operation Cast Lead as a critical component that grants Israel justification and relative freedom to act.

We can therefore assume that Israel, apparently in cooperation with France, is also behind the latest French report. France views itself as holding responsibility and special ties with Lebanon, and the information leaked by the French Defense Ministry (according to Le Figaro) constitutes a message to Lebanon and Syria in and of itself.

Syria targets fair game
The leak’s timing, right after Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon, was meant to prove that France, just like Israel, treats the Iranian president’s threats seriously and is concerned by them. The report meant to prove, using facts and figures, that as opposed to Western commentary that viewed the Iranian president’s impassioned zeal as Mideastern arrogance that is empty of substance, we are dealing with a plan of action and available means to carry it out by Hezbollah, once it receives the green light from Tehran.

Another inherent message in the report is directed at Damascus. President Bashar Assad, who constantly declares his desire for peace with Israel, would have trouble explaining how such statements are commensurate with the flames he’s been fanning by helping Hezbollah (which operates in the heart of Damascus, several kilometers away from the Syrian presidential palace and under the watchful eye of Assad’s security services.)

The message was not only meant to embarrass the Syrian president, but also to indicate to him that Hezbollah’s headquarters and training camps in Syria are, in Israel’s view, legitimate targets and that he and his regime will be responsible for any damage sustained by Syria.

Another message directed at Syria, as well as at the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, is that their acts are transparent and that Israeli and Western intelligence agencies are aware of them. This also means that Israel’s flights above Lebanon are necessary, despite the UN condemnations. These spy missions are mostly needed in order to ascertain whether the Iranians, via the Syrians, are transferring what Israel refers to as “balance-breaking weapons” into Lebanon.

Such weapons include anti-aircraft missile batteries that would limit the Israel Air Force’s maneuvers, as well as long-term Scud missiles. Should such weapons be transferred nonetheless, Israel may respond with great force.

While the above messages will not bring about the termination of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal, they serve Israel’s deterrent power and are supposed to grant it legitimacy for “disproportional” acts should such strikes be required in Lebanon, and possibly in Syria as well.





Ynet News

Who Rules in Palestine?

by Joe Settler

This question is not about the fact that Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas aka Abu Mazen is legally no longer the president of the Palestinian Authority and that the presidency of the PA is now in the hands of Hamas.

If you think about it, this war with Hamas is more a reflection of what goes on in Arab society in general then about destroying Israel.

Only if you understand the fiction that is called Palestine, can you then understand what is really happening in the Middle East.

There has never been a Palestinian state, a Palestinian nation, or a Palestinian people. These are just recent developments and concepts that evolved more as a reaction to what I am about to discuss then from national evolution.

Look around at all the Arab states such as Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. It's all about internecine fighting and the control of one family, tribe or clan over another — and in general the brutal and oppressive methods of keeping that control.

With the exception of Iran (established 1935, but was previously Persia) and Egypt, what Arab state even existed as an identifiably unique entity 100 years ago?

Look at their dates of statehood: Saudi Arabia — 1932, Iraq — 1932, Lebanon — 1920, Jordan - 1946, Kuwait — 1961, Syria — 1946. Until then they were just a bunch of different clans and tribes under the fist of ever-changing rulers, often external ones, with no real individually unique national identity beyond Islam and Arabia.

Even Lebanon which had its period of semi-autonomy and identity was simply one family/tribe such as the Maans or Shihabs gaining temporary control over the other clans..

The people of Palestine (as they are called now), a significant majority the descendents of immigrants from Egypt and the Syrian Levant less than 100 years ago, never had any uniquely unifying elements, history, or culture to join them together as a nation or people besides the same general nebulous Arab/Islamic tribal identity that permeates the entire Middle East.

Until the Arabs attacked Israel and created the "refugee problem", there was nothing historically unique about the Palestinian people to define them as a unique people, so these internal schisms that afflicts the rest of the Middle East affects these Arabs that also live in the Land of Israel.

That affliction is the question of which tribe will rule (or at least have more control) over the others.

And while on one hand you can claim that the division is between the Islamists (Hamas) and the Nationalists (Fatah), it reality they are almost all Islamists and Nationalists.

Most likely it is due to urbanization, but the clan you are born into has become secondary as the extended family/tribal structure breaks down, while the paradigm of the tribe and clan remains in place.

Instead of the traditional family-based clan, the organizational clan has replaced it as the typical clan structure (but not as a national clan concept, just a local one). And all the while, the model of one clan trying to gain superiority over the others is just as strong as ever.

HAMAS NEEDS to fight Israel to show that it is the stronger clan than Fatah — no different than the Shiites and the Sunnis. Both (Hamas and Fatah) want to see Israel replaced by an Arab state, they just disagree on the methods, and which clan should have control.

For all their whining, crying and big talk about Palestine, you don't see a single other Arab nation coming to their aid in their war against Israel.

And why should they?

First of all, Palestine is big in their minds of the Arab people simply because their rulers use it as leverage to keep control over their populations by redirecting their citizen's anger frustration away from their oppressive and backwards regimes and against a third party enemy.

But more importantly this war isn't about defeating Israel.

This is about which clan/tribe is going to defeat the other, Israel being incidental to this battle, and as such not the fight of the other Arab nations.

Which brings us to the actual reason why Hamas is really still fighting.

Shouldn't Hamas have conceded defeat already?

Well if this war was against Israel, then yes, that would be true, but this war isn't against Israel.
THE IDF has frustrated Hamas's plan to militarily wrest control of the West Bank away from Fatah.

If Hamas can't fight Fatah directly and take over the Fatah clan by force, then the next best thing is to win over the hearts, minds and imaginations of the residents of the West Bank and show them that they will fight the common enemy between them and for them — unlike the Fatah clan.

Every day Hamas doesn't give in just means more members of Hamas tribe for them in the West Bank (and among the Arabs citizens of Israel).

No matter how bad their military losses, Hamas is achieving it goals of expanding the size of its clan simply by fighting and hanging on.

Unless Israel realizes this and totally obliterates Hamas, Hamas will have won, and will expand much more easily throughout the land.

Yes, militarily, Israel has unquestionably won, and this war will be taught in war colleges around the world as a classic case study on how a traditional military force can beat a guerilla army.

But Israel did not achieve its objective of defeating Hamas (if that was its objective).

And so while Hamas may have militarily lost this war — big time, they have achieved their objectives of remaining in power, showing they are the only clan (besides Hizbollah) to fight Israel, and most importantly expanding their fan base throughout the Land of Israel.

In short, the Fatah clan remains in power due to the graces of the IDF. If the IDF were pulled out, the Hamas clan would be in control very quickly.

And the answer to question at the top of this post is simple, there is no ruler in Palestine, because there is no a Palestine, just a bunch of clans and tribes, a bunch of loseres which can't accomplish anything in their life except death, war and destruction, fighting each other in a particular geographical region for control.




Joe Settler is a blog about the Jewish State.

Get Tough With Russia

Russians seek Israeli know-how while selling weapons to our worst enemies.

by Aryeh Egozi

For years, Russian intelligence agents were openly present at any arms show where Israel participated, in order to monitor the latest developments by Israel’s defense industries. The Russians knew that Israel is the world’s most advanced nation in some areas, such as armor for tanks and various electronic systems.

While the Soviet Union still existed, Russian agents would show up at the Israeli exhibits and photograph every system from every possible angle. Israeli security officials knew who the enthused photographers were and would offer them coffee and cake.

Whatever is exhibited at an international convention can be photographed, and the Russians indeed took shots, picked up the brochures handed out at the site, and left with a great smile on their face (and not only because of the coffee and cake.)

Our officials also know that Israeli military systems captured by the Syrians or Lebanese during various clashes were quickly handed over to Moscow.

During the Russia-Georgia war, Russian jets intercepted several Israeli-made drones used by the Georgian forces. A few months later, the Russians first approached the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and sought to purchase several drones. In unofficial talks, they admitted that they have failed to develop their own high-quality unmanned aircraft.

A first deal was signed, with the IAI supplying several models of small drones to Russia. Yet in recent weeks, following Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s visit to Moscow, discussions on selling additional drones to the tune of $300 million were accelerated. The Russians conditioned the deal on the establishment of a joint drone factory in Russia. Both countries would invest, and the products would go to the Russian army.

Reassess drone sale
After Russia approved the sale of its Yakhont missiles to Syria, some questions emerged in Israel that should have emerged much earlier. Indeed, the enthusiasm shown by Israel’s defense industries in selling products to foreign nations already led to problematic situations in the past. This was the case with South Africa, with China, and also with Iran during the Shah’s rule.

While these states poured great amounts of money into Israel’s defense industries, someone should have thought about the changes that may take place in these countries.

The security agreement between Israel and Russian mostly pertains to the area of weapons systems. The Russians realized they can get much technical know-how from Israel that would assist their immense effort to rehabilitate their military. However, the Russians are working on various fronts: While they are trying to purchase military systems and know-how from Israel, they continue to supply arms to Israel’s worst enemies.

The Russians are selling arms to Syria, building nuclear reactors in Iran, and are looking into Tehran’s requests for advanced weapons systems. The Russians are motivated by two objectives: Filling the state coffers with dollars, and boosting their global influence.

Officials in Jerusalem must reassess the drone sale. Now of all times there is no room for a defense “honeymoon” in the ties between Israel and Russia. The expected damage is greater than the gains, and our officials must understand this. Moscow is only operating in line with its own interests; Israel should do the same.



Ynet News