 'In next war, Lebanon won't be immune' Aug. 6, 2009 JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that if another war erupts on the northern border, the IDF will have more operational freedom to target infrastructure than in the Second Lebanon War. Speaking to Israel Radio, the defense minister said that during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, there was tacit agreement with the United States to avoid targeting state infrastructure like roads, power stations, airports and other state institutions. But if another confrontation erupts in the future, Barak added, the military will no longer be prevented from using its might to its full extent against the enemy. Labor MK Amir Peretz, who preceded Barak as defense minister and was ousted after the war, was interviewed by Israel Radio after Barak and denied his claims. "There is no truth to the claim that Washington prevented Israel from targeting infrastructure," Peretz said. The former defense minister said that at the onset of the confrontation, Israel had to decide whether to target Hizbullah missile silos or the Lebanese infrastructure, and decided against attacking the latter. In the Second Lebanon War, Israel fought Hizbullah using the strategy that it was battling a 'state within a state' in Lebanon. Then-prime minister Ehud Olmert stressed at the time more than once that Israel had no quarrel with the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people. Following the recent Lebanese election, where Hizbullah strengthened its political power, several top IDF officers have warned that now that the group was more integrated into the state, Lebanon would no longer enjoy the relative "immunity" it had in 2006. In related news Thursday, Lebanese Druse leader Walid Jumbaltt, a staunch opponent of Hizbullah, denied reports that he was planning to withdraw from political life, Israel Radio reported. This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418536710&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull IAF takes first place in biannual American Hercules competition Aug. 5, 2009 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST A Lockheed-Martin c-130 While some might call him a good luck charm, Col. (res.) Avshalom says he's just your average Israel Air Force navigator. But last week, he led an IAF team to victory in the Air Mobility RODEO 2009 competition in the United States, taking home the Col. Joe M. Jackson Trophy for best C-130 air crew. RODEO, a biannual event that brings transport and mobility air crews from around the world together for several days of competitions, tests the teams' expertise in landing, locating drop zones and parachuting equipment. Last week, an Israeli C-130 Hercules transport aircraft flew to McChord Air Force Base in Washington. The team was led by Lt.-Col. Micha, commander of a Hercules squadron stationed in the Nevatim Air Force Base in the Negev. The IAF began flying C-130s in the 1970s and has attended RODEO a total of seven times, last appearing in 1996. Twelve air crews from eight countries, including the US, Germany, Spain and Belgium, participated in the competition. Saudi Arabia and Oman also sent air crews, to observe the competition. The competition consisted of three flights, during which the teams were to navigate to specific positions and parachute both heavy and light payloads onto exact coordinates. Avshalom, a veteran navigator and a member of the first Israeli crew to win the competition in 1990, flew to the US last week to join the IAF team once again and lead it to victory. One of the categories the teams were tested in is the amount of time they spend over a drop zone, with the objective to stay for as little time as possible. In a total of four drops, the Israeli crew loitered over the zones for a total of six seconds. "Coming in [at] first place shows the world that the IAF is one of the best," Avshalom said Tuesday. "The US commander sent a team onto our plane to see how we succeeded in doing it." This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418532389&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull  Efrat Soldier Dies in TrainingAv 15, 5769, 05 August 09 02:08 by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu(Israelnationalnews.com) A soldier from a long-time Israeli-American family in Efrat died early Wednesday morning when his tank overturned in a training drill in the Golan Heights. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Staff Sergeant Uriel Peretz Liwerant. Liwerant was a tank commander and was taking part in a course for company and battalion commanders when the accident occurred. Three other soldiers suffered light wounds as a result of the incident, which is under investigation. The IDF said that the Merkava tank ran into an anti-tank ditch while trying to cross a small bridge and rolled over on its side, apparently after deviating from its path and dropping several feet to the ground. Commanders on the scene unsuccessfully tried to stop the tank after they noticed it had changed its path. The IDF suspended training pending the results of an initial probe. |
Thursday, 6 August 2009
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