Creative Commons. IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Voice of Israel from Jerusalem,
Shalom, the time is now 6 am and here is the news,
in the studio, this is Rivki Dangot, Continue reading
The Day After Israel Attacks Iran
Category Archives: Israel Defense Forces
Israel to Iran: Do you get the picture?
When it comes to sending signals, a picture is worth a thousand words. And lately, Israel has been sending a lot pictures to get its message across.
Just over the past week, the Israeli defense establishment has released the following pictures of its set pieces:
The Ministry of Defense has released pictures of an Arrow 3 anti-missile defense system test. [Message to Iran: We can hit your long-range missiles, your threats of massive rocket attack have been noted and we're prepared].
Analysis: Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood
When the Muslim Brotherhood leadership looks around them they see an America in decline – both at home and abroad. They see how the US abandoned Mubarak. They see how America speaks of human rights in Egypt and Tunisia, but don’t apply these principles in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Continue reading
As its neighborhood roils, Israel must work closer with America
Over the past few weeks there have been a growing number of signs that relations between Washington and Jerusalem are even more strained than they’ve been over the past few years.
The US Administration has gone out of its way to make it clear to the Israeli leadership that it believes sanctions against Iran are working and need more time to evolve. The US does not want Israel to launch a strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and there exists a certain amount of unease at Israel’s opacity when it comes to sharing its Iran plans with America.
Where do Israel and America’s interests dovetail, and where do they part? Continue reading
Some thoughts on the situation 18/01/2011
1. A senior ranking IDF officer has told reporters the following two things:
a). The army is very loathe to demolish the illegal settlement outpost of Migron by the court-appointed deadline of March because it “will cause a serious backlash from the right wing and possibly change the security balance in the West Bank.”
In other words: we can carry out the orders of the High Court but it’s going to cause a major upheaval and so may not even be worth the trouble. Continue reading
Israel’s existential threat crisis
I’m trying to make up my mind, you know, about ‘it’. Should I be worried about it, really worried about it, somewhat worried about it? Should I panic? Should I pack an emergency suitcase? Or is it not as serious as some people make it out to be?
As a Jew born into the generation of Jews who are lucky enough to have come back to our historical homeland – after 2,000 years of exile and horror – you can understand my anxiety when serious people tell me that Iran’s nuclear program threatens to put an end to this historic homecoming. Continue reading
Love in the time of Uranium
“America’s commitment and my commitment to Israel and Israel’s security is unshakeable. It is unshakeable. I am proud to say that no U.S. administration has done more in support of Israel’s security than ours. None. Don’t let anybody else tell you otherwise. It is a fact. We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. And that’s why, rest assured, we will take no options off the table.” – US President Barack Obama, December 17, 2011
The Jewish Self-Destruct Button
The fact that 30 attackers could break into an IDF base in a military zone in Palestinian areas without the IDF having any prior intelligence, vandalize the base, damage IDF equipment, knock a few soldiers around, and walk out scot free, as if they had just won a battle, is not a scandal. That’s already happened before. Two attackers were arrested in the Epfraim Brigade attack. Only two. And one of them ‘escaped.’ That’s the scandal.
The fact that Jewish attackers can ambush an IDF vehicle carrying a Brigade Commander and a Deputy Brigade Commander, open the vehicle door, and throw a concrete block at the Deputy Commander’s head, is not a scandal. That’s also happened before. What’s a scandal is that these Israel Defense Forces officers didn’t put a bullet between the eyes of the man who dared to open the door of their armored car. Continue reading
Peace now? Forget about it
Why the Palestinians and settlers don’t want peace now
The Palestinians are certainly interested in a sovereign and independent state that will allow them to realize their self-determination as other peoples have done across the world. But they’re not pursuing a negotiated settlement with Israel. Instead the Palestinian Authority is pursuing a unilateral drive for statehood, still promising its people, as well as the Palestinian Diaspora, that they will eventually return to their former homes in Jaffa and Haifa. Continue reading
Netanyahu and Obama are running against each other
Some thoughts on the situation
1. Silvan Shalom, the Likud’s number 2 man, had no idea that PM Netanyahu was planning to bring forward the Likud primaries date. He was caught completely by surprise. And just for that, he doesn’t deserve to be Likud leader. In this profession, and in this neighborhood, if you’re not constantly trying to politically or militarily outmaneuver your opponents, chances are they will get you. The wolf and the sheep have not laid down together yet here. If Shalom doesn’t know that by now, he’ll never know it, and he can’t lead the Likud, or this country. Continue reading
‘Superhero’ spymaster now a thorn in government’s side
Former Mossad chief, now chief thorn in government's side
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking cabinet support for a military strike on Iran, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday, after days of speculation about plans for an attack. The report, citing a senior Israeli official, said Netanyahu was working with Defense Minister Ehud Barak to win support from skeptical members of the cabinet who oppose attacking Iranian nuclear facilities.
The above quote is making its way around the world’s media. It bothers me that the whole world now knows what’s going on deep inside the top Israeli leadership concerning the issue of an attack on Iran, no less. But there you have it. A few days before the Haaretz report, Yediot Aharonot reported that Barak and Netanyahu had already decided to attack Iran, without consulting the other ministers.The Israeli government is furious that Haaretz even reported on the inner deliberations of the Israeli ministers. Now everybody is talking about this issue: should Israel attack Iran before the winter clouds make it difficult for our planes to find their targets? Are Barak and Netanyahu sufficiently experienced to carry out this fateful mission? Is the Israeli home front ready and capable to withstand an Iranian and Hezbollah retaliation? Should the Israeli public be readied to live with the Iranian bomb, or is there no way on earth the Jewish people should ever let radical Islamists arm themselves with nuclear weapons? Should our planes swoop in from the east or the north? What music should the pilots listen to the night before, something rhythmic or something soothing? Metallica or Mozart? Continue reading
Some thoughts on the situation: 25.10.2011
Dear God, forgive us our daily scandals.
1. Is it even news anymore that Israel’s fiery foreign minister says something diametrically opposed to what the prime minister is saying? Avigdor Lieberman now says PA President Mahmoud Abbas should stop threatening to resign, and just resign. Lieberman says Abbas is the biggest obstacle to peace. The problem with all this is, is that the official position of the government of Israel is of calling for Abbas to resume peace negotiations. So the Prime Minister’s Office calls on Abbas to stay, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on Abbas to go. Anyone lamenting Israel’s poor diplomatic and PR performance need look no further than this example. Continue reading
Israeli intelligence rules, OK?
The conventional wisdom around these parts in the days following the return of Gilad Shalit in a costly prisoner exchange deal is that the much-vaunted Israeli establishment was handed a resounding failure by failing to locate the missing soldier, and proposing a viable rescue operation. Continue reading
Some thoughts on the Gilad Shalit deal
1. Hamas number 2 Mousa Abu Marzouk has apparently opened a Hamas office in Cairo to prepare for a new base for the terror group. This is an extremely interesting development, as Hamas’ offices in Damascus are looking rather shaky the deeper Bashar Assad’s Syria sinks into oblivion. Will Hamas leader Khaled Mashal join Marzouk? If and when Hamas leaves Syria, what will that mean for the organization, and its new relationship with Egypt? It’s natural for Hamas to be based in post-Mubarak Egypt, where the Muslim brotherhood [Hamas' mothership] is a resurgent political power and is sure to play a prominent role in any future political constellation there. If and when Mashal leaves Syria, it would signal that Hamas has bet against the survivability of Bashar Assad. Continue reading
Postcards from the edge
As I got home this afternoon from work, I saw a postcard in my postbox, and thought perhaps one of my friends had sent me a nice memo from some far-flung adventure.
Alas, it was not to be, for what I got instead was a sunny, yet disconcertingly ominous postcard from the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command wishing me a happy and safe Jewish new year.
Happy and Safe New Year
On the flip side of the postcard, I noticed that it wasn’t specifically addressed to me, but that the army had put the same postcard in all of my neighbor’s postboxes too. How sad, I thought, not to be sent a personal postcard from the IDF. At the bottom of the postcard the army left us all this message: “A small tip for a happy and safe new year: Check where your protected space is and what equipment it needs to be stocked with.”
"Check your protected space"
So are they trying to tell us something?
I think I’m going to send the IDF Homefront Command a postcard in return, perhaps with a picture of me wearing a gas mask and sitting in my lounge with my bags packed in front of a giant atlas of the world, and on it I’ll write: Dearest army, please don’t send me any more postcards, I’m already a bit jumpy. Thanks, and have a happy new year.
For over 2,000 years the Jews said they were coming back, didn’t the Arabs notice?
Some thoughts on the situation.
1. Arab Israeli Member of Knesset Dr. Ahmed Tibi traveled to NY with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to advise him during his bid for statehood. Tibi stayed with the Palestinian delegation at an expensive hotel in NY. Tibi even sat with the Palestinian delegation at the General Assembly hall. The Knesset allows its members a budget for “outreach with the voters.” Obviously, this budget comes from Israeli taxpayers. So which voters am I paying for Tibi to reach out to? Continue reading
Israel walks alone
Can we officially become the 51st state now?
Let’s face it folks, we can’t make it in this neighborhood by ourselves.
We’ve lost all our friends, and we’re not making any new ones. And more and more, wild animals are taking the place of inspired revolutionaries. The Arab Spring is turning into a clusterfuck before our very eyes.
The 2010 Gaza flotilla organizers failed to reach their destination, but their ultimate goal of causing us major diplomatic harm has been achieved. The Islamic Jihad terrorists who last month killed 8 Israelis couldn’t have wished for a better outcome than 80 million Egyptians ultimately turning against Israel. Continue reading
Playing Chicken with Turkey
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is quickly becoming Israel’s most dangerous enemy, and I think the time has come for him to be treated as such.
Erdogan has cut diplomatic and defense ties; cancelled military maneuvers; he’s going after our gas reserves in the sea; says his country will sue Israeli soldiers at The Hague; will take Israel’s blockade to the ICC; and now threatens to send his navy our way. Continue reading
Will Turkey’s navy try break Israel’s blockade on Gaza?
Some thoughts on the situation:
1. A senior Turkish official revealed that the Turkish Navy intends to significantly increase its presence in the eastern Mediterranean following the Palmer Commission report. The official described it as an “aggressive naval strategy” against the “thuggery of the Israeli navy.”
