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].
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
No longer a purely guerrilla organization, Hizbullah is engaged in a huge political battle that culminates in the June 7 elections. “The Party of God” is in the pro-Iranian and Syrian camp facing off against the Hariri camp supported by America, Saudi Arabia and France.
The assessment in Israel is that Hizbullah will win the election and put “acceptable faces” in the cabinet to consolidate its rule. This will be another political victory for the radical Muslim axis following Hamas’s victory in the 2007 Palestinian elections. Continue reading
Ring ring. Ring ring. Prime Minister’s Office how may I help you?
Yes, hello this is chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi. Can I speak to Prime Minister Netanyahu please?
What’s it about?
It’s a delicate matter that needs urgent attention. I really can’t talk about it with you. Could you please put me through to the prime minister?
Well, let me see, since it sounds like you’re talking about a security matter, I have to ask you, have you gone through the proper channels before trying to reach the Prime Minister? You know of course that he is extremely busy, being the prime minister, the minister for economic strategy, the pensioner’s affairs minister, and the health minister. Have you spoken to his military secretary first?
No, I haven’t had the time to…what’s his number? Continue reading
The following text is a letter posted on the Facebook profile of Yona Cymerman, an acquaintance of mine. It is written by her brother-in-law and translated by Yona. I’ve posted it here because it is quite powerful. There have been reports of IDF soldiers leaving notes for the Palestinians whose homes they commandeered throughout the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast lead.
An Open Letter to a Citizen of Gaza: I Slept in Your Home
An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza:
I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home:
By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)
Hello,
While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home
which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you
that someone was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone. Continue reading
Here is a Q&A with Dr. Robbie Sabel, a lecturer in international law at the Hebrew University and former legal adviser to the Foreign Ministry.
Israel has been accused of violating the laws of war during the Gaza fighting. What are these laws, and is the accusation true?
Israel, during the fighting in Gaza, has taken greater steps than any other army in recent history to try and prevent enemy civilian casualties. The laws of war were formulated when armies in uniforms were battling other armies in uniform, usually in open fields. We are now facing an enemy often dressed as civilians, hiding among civilian buildings and aiming its fire deliberately and cold-bloodedly at Israeli civilian targets. Continue reading
The IDF was not responsible for the death of a Palestinian aid worker contracted to the UN and the wounding of two others last Thursday, the IDF Spokesperson said Saturday.
“An IDF investigation has found that it was not the army who fired on a UN truck at the Erez Crossing,” the Spokesperson’s office said. The IDF is not sure who fired on the truck, and is still investigating. “The army further wishes to point out that the Palestinian wounded were evacuated by the Red Cross to the Israeli border, where they were taken by Israeli medical personnel for treatment at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital,” the IDF told The Jerusalem Post. Continue reading
Day 14
The Israeli cabinet has decided to keep the forces inside Gaza but not to approve a wider, stronger attack against Hamas.
I fear this is the worst possible decision. It is a decision not to decide. Continue reading
Who killed the Palestinian driver of an aid truck and wounded two others as their convoy made its way into the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing during Thursday’s “humanitarian cease-fire?”
According to the foreign media, who based their information on UN sources, IDF tank shells blasted the truck. According to the Magen David Adom medic who claimed to have taken the Palestinians to an Israeli hospital, the truck actually came under Hamas sniper fire. Continue reading
UPDATE: Netanyahu joins Israel’s PR war effort, appearing on FOX News.
Just heard that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met today with opposition leader Likud MK Binyamin Netanyahu and updated him on the security situation, as is required by law. The Prime Minister’s Office also reports that Olmert asked Netanyahu to step up and help in Israel’s public diplomacy efforts during this round of fighting with Hamas in Gaza.
Netanyahu, a fluent English-speaker with a Harvard degree, is considered the top public speaker in Israel, especially on foreign networks. While Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog and President Shimon Peres are no slouches, nobody comes close to Bibi’s clarity and force of argument, regardless of whether one agrees with him or not. Continue reading
David Bouskila had a long and busy Friday night. The workload and
consultations started again very early on Saturday morning. So at about
11:30 a.m., when he finally found a few minutes to rest, he walked into his
bedroom and let his hefty body slump onto the mattress.
The second his head hit the pillow, IAF bombs hit their marks in nearby Gaza
City causing a thunderous sonic boom which shook Bouskila’s home. Sderot’s
new mayor knew it was not a good time to catch some sleep.
Credit: Sderot media center
Bouskila is speaking on his cell phone to the BBC when I catch up with him.
“We praise the IDF and the government for acting after having been under
rocket attack for over eight years,” he says. Speaking in good English all
the way through the interview, Bouskila spells out the letters of his name
to the BBC reporter on the other end of the line. Continue reading
UPDATE: So I was off by one day; I predicted Sunday but the IAF went in Saturday.
According to defense sources, the Israeli cabinet has given the IDF a green light to attack Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip following the end of the ceasefire last week. On Wednesday, Hamas and other Palestinian groups fired some 80 rockets into Southern Israel, causing no injuries but extensive damage.
The defense establishment is not keen for a full ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, preferring instead to rely on a series of measures starting with air attacks on Hamas military installations and senior personnel.
However, for this to be possible, the Israel Air Force needs clearer skies than the cloudy and rainy conditions currently prevailing across the country. It has been raining since Tuesday night in various parts of the country, with heavy cloud cover throughout.
AP reports: Defense officials, speaking on condition on anonymity because they were not permitted to discuss the plans, said the Israeli operation would likely begin with surgical airstrikes against rocket launchers and continue with a land incursion. Current weather conditions are hampering visibility and complicating air force missions, so the operation won’t be launched until the skies clear, they added.
So, while the decision to act against Hamas has been taken, the timing of the start of operations depends largely on the weather.
So here is the weather report for the coming days from the Israel Meteorological Institute:
Forecast for today and tonight:
Local rain from northern Israel to northern Negev. The rain will weaken in the afternoon. The temperatures will be below the average for this time of the year.
Fri.
26/12 Partly cloudy to clear with a slight rise in temperatures but still cooler than usual for the season.
Sat.
27/12 Clear to partly cloudy with an additional rise in temperatures.
Sun.
28/12 Clear with no significant change in temperatures.
Forecast Highs says keep an eye on Sunday.
It’s telling that neither Hamas nor Israel has announced the end of the tahadiyeh. Hamas said the cease-fire was “teetering” and vowed to respond to the latest attack, but it has no interest in sparking a war with Israel that would threaten its hold on the Gaza Strip.
In Hamas’s mind, digging a tunnel under the border through which its fighters can crawl to an IDF position, kill and/or kidnap Israeli soldiers and take them back to Gaza is not a violation of the cease-fire, whereas an Israeli preemptive reaction to that is.
But despite the recent flare-up, both sides have an interest in maintaining the cease-fire and averting an escalation. Continue reading
EU diplomatic sources who specialize in the Middle East believe that Israel cannot stop the Iranian nuclear program on its own using military means.
Teheran has effective countermeasures against air strikes, and the sources do not see Israel committing ground forces to a battle in Iran, pointing to the American experience in Iraq on that score.
In the wake of the Second Lebanon War, the Iranians and their proxies believe that Israel is not invincible. Furthermore, EU diplomatic officials predict the development of a regional conflagration of unknown proportions as a result of any Israeli strike on the Islamic Republic. While many nations in the region would quietly support Israeli action, in public they would have to align against the Jewish state, an EU source said, adding that “the end of this road is not known.” Continue reading
Just realized something interesting: all four candidates for the Kadima leadership have impressive security backgrounds:
Shaul Mofaz is a former IDF Chief of General Staff, Minister of Defense, and he also heads the Israel-US strategic dialogue. He is on the security cabinet.
Avi Dichter is a former paratrooper, General Security Service [Shabak] agent, and head of the internal secret service organization for several years. He is currently Minister of Internal Security, which oversees the Police. He is on the security cabinet.
Tzipi Livni is a former Mossad operative. Not much is known about her service in Israel’s foreign intelligence service, but a report a few months ago in a British paper claimed she took part in a terrorist hunting mission in Europe. She is also on the security cabinet.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit is currently the head of the Knesset’s oversight sub-committee on the secret services, where Sheetrit is privy to much of the defense secrets and issues of the country. He knows exactly what the Shabak and Mossad are up to, and as such, he is also on the security cabinet.
That’s a pretty impressive list of candidates for the leadership of Kadima and Israel. Now the only question is, do they have a party?
Got this response from the IDF Spokesperson’s Office today for both the Facebook and YouTube stories:
Regulations stipulate that it is not permissible to film or take pictures inside any IDF facility or during an IDF operation unless the photographer has express permission. These regulations are designed to prevent people without proper security clearance from accessing classified information and the appearance of such materials in the press or on the internet. The IDF is working to raise awareness among soldiers and reservists about operational and security dangers that maybe caused by classified information carelessly uploaded to the internet. The IDF is taking a broad response to the problem, which includes education, monitoring and disciplinary enforcement.
And now, on to the story:
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of photographs of classified Israeli military information are available freely for perusal on the popular Facebook social networking Web site. [PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST]. Continue reading
The official motto of the IDF Engineering Corps’s Atomic, Biological and Chemical Unit is ‘Survive, and continue fighting.’ Its unofficial motto, the one most of its fighters learn in their first 10 minutes in the unit, is: ‘If they’re using us, everybody else is either hiding, underground or already dead.’
The official motto explains not only the function of the unit – to protect armor and infantry on a battlefield peppered with chemical or biological agents – but also the spirit in which the unit was established: absorb the worst the enemy can throw at you (in this case, unconventional weapons); fight off enemy troops by taking advantage of the destruction and the chaos; and provide a cleansed area for the regular troops to launch a counterattack.
