Hamas Terrorist Killed during IDF Arrest
The Jerusalem Post -09/17/2010 04:36 f table with the announcement of a round of senior appointments.
Galant, who will take over from Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi in February, will be replaced in the Southern Command by Maj.- Gen. Tal Russo, who has spend the past four years as head of the IDF Operations Directorate.
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One surprise appointment was that of Brig.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi as the next head of Military Intelligence in place of the current chief, Maj.-Gen.
Amos Yadlin. Kochavi is a respected officer who has served in the past as head of the Gaza Division and until recently as Russo’s deputy in the Operations Directorate.
Most of the previous heads of Military Intelligence – known by its Hebrew acronym AMAN – served in other posts on the General Staff before moving over to head up MI.
Russo will be replaced by Brig.-Gen Yaacov Ayish, who previously served as deputy head of the Ground Forces Command.
The round of appointments was officially approved by Ashkenazi and Defense Minister Ehud Barak but was carried out with the approval of Galant, who will spend the next few months until he takes up his new post learning more about the military and the intricacies of serving as chief of staff.
One job that has yet to be filled is the deputy chief of staff, which will soon be vacated by Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz. He lost out to Galant in the race to replaced Ashkenazi. The leading candidate to be the IDF’s No. 2 is OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot.
Syria to Get Advanced Anti-Ship Missiles from Russia
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Security and Defense: Terror nova
By YAAKOV KATZ
The Jerusalem Post -09/17/2010 12:50
A few seconds later, two Cobra attack helicopters emerge from a cloud and begin spraying the ground with gunfire to provide cover for the maneuvering tanks, as well as a battalion of paratroopers stationed a few kilometers to the north. Artillery shells pound the earth just a few hundred meters away as the tanks line up along a small ravine ready to plow forward into the mock battlefield.
Like most months on the Golan Heights, September has also been marked by increased training. Last week, the 7th Armored Brigade carried out an exercise during which it trained for future conflicts – from all-out conventional war with Syria to small counter-terror operations in the Gaza Strip.
There to watch the exercise was OC Ground Forces Command Maj.-Gen. Sami Turjeman, who between the tank fire and artillery shelling gave an exclusive interview to The Jerusalem Post, his first to the Israeli press since taking up his post last September.
A veteran tank commander, Turjeman watches with pride as the Merkavas ride past us, swirling up a cloud of thick dust. “This is power,” he says.
A quiet and serious officer, Turjeman is a strange bird in today’s highly politicized IDF, marred by the recent scandal surrounding the appointment of the next chief of General Staff. He remains mostly out of the spotlight and prefers to spend his time out in the field with the troops. When scheduling this interview, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said that Turjeman specifically asked to hold the meeting on the sidelines of a military exercise on the Golan. Only this way, it explained, will you be able to understand what the general will speak about.
At 46, Turjeman is the youngest member of the General Staff. He is also the only general born outside the country, in Marrakech, Morocco, which he left at the age of six months. He enlisted into the Armored Corps in 1982 and slowly climbed the ranks, serving as a battalion commander, a brigade commander and finally in 2004 as commander of the Armored Corps.
In 2007, Turjeman was appointed commander of Division 36, responsible for the Golan Heights, a job he served in until last September when he was promoted to major-general and put in charge of the IDF’s largest resource – its ground forces.
IT IS TURJEMAN’S JOB to ensure that the military is prepared for future conflicts and that the mistakes of the Second Lebanon War are not repeated.
The exercise we are at is proof of the change. Before the war four years ago, a brigade-level exercise was a rarity.
Today, each brigade holds one at least once a year.
“This is the same army with the same people,” Turjeman says when asked about the change. “The difference is that we are more focused today and understand what our mission is and what is expected from us.”
Sitting down to talk in the shade under an old olive tree, Turjeman lowers his Tavor rifle and explains the primary challenges the IDF is facing.
“On a tactical level we will see an attempt to wear us down with urban warfare, which is a characteristic of all the fronts we face today, with missile attacks of various ranges and sizes on the home front as well as a close battle between ground forces,” he says.
On a more strategic level, he is preparing the IDF for war on multiple fronts and for the possibility that a future conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon will also lead to a war with Syria.
“The axis of evil and the connection between the players is tight and demonstrated by their practical daily cooperation and the strategic understandings they have reached between one another,” he explains.
Turjeman took over the Ground Forces Command about six months after Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, following which the IDF came under unprecedented criticism for the way it operated, culminating in the Goldstone report in which it was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
One of his first decisions was to write for the first time an operational doctrine which sets the rules of engagement for forces operating inside a civilian- populated area. One order in the doctrine is for IDF commanders to make every effort to evacuate civilians from an area where combat is expected.
In addition, commanders are told to select empty structures when entering an urban or heavily populated area and fire a number of shells to scare away the civilians who remain in the area. The new order also sets guidelines regarding which type of weaponry to use during operations inside urban centers.
Turjeman recently held a seminar to teach officers about the new doctrine but ultimately, he says, the Goldstone Report is not just about Israel but a threat to every democratic nation which seeks to defend itself.
“America and European nations have the same problems when fighting against terrorists in a population center,” he says. “It is true that we need to match the force we will use to the challenge we will face, but the IDF has always operated in a moral way – before Cast Lead, during Cast Lead and after Cast Lead.”
Looking around at the impressive military platforms participating in the exercise, it is clear that the IDF has come a long way since the Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead.
Today, tanks are fitted with the new digital army program called Tzayad – Hebrew for “hunter” – which enables all platforms on a battlefield to see one another on a digital map as well as targets that each one has punched in to the system.
They have also recently received new shells – called Kalanit – which enable precision strikes against anti-tank cells that could not be targeted by normal tank shells. The Artillery Corps is looking into the possibility of purchasing new advanced accurate rockets, and the infantry battalions have started using unmanned aerial vehicles, with plans to equip each brigade with a larger UAV as well.
Tanks are also in the process of being equipped with active protection systems against anti-tank missiles and the IDF is scheduled to shortly choose an American company to manufacture the Namer, said to be the most protected armored personnel carrier in the world with the highest level of survivability.
“Nothing is the same, from the boots the soldiers walk in to the helmets they wear on their heads and the weapons and missiles they carry,” he says.
“Ground forces are more lethal and independent today. When you can maneuver with better protection and have better intelligence, you can direct your forces in the right direction to the right mission.”
In addition to upgrading the equipment and developing new technology, the Ground Forces Command under Turjeman has also put an emphasis on educating commanders to be what he calls “military professionals.” To maintain this standard, Turjeman has instituted quarterly tests for officers from brigadier-generals who serve as division commanders to lieutenants who serve as squad commanders. He then receives a list with the names, ranks, positions and grades of the officers who take the tests.
“Serving in the military is a profession, and officers need to be educated,” Turjeman says. “These tests provide us with an indication of where the gaps are in a commander’s knowledge. If, for example, a bunch of junior officers fail a test in urban warfare, then their commander will know that he needs to hold a seminar for them in urban warfare.”
TURJEMAN’S OVERALL prognosis foresees the possibility of war on a number of fronts. He says that a conflict in Lebanon could easily develop into a simultaneous conflict with Syria as well as in the Gaza Strip. For this reason, when the 7th Brigade holds its exercises, it does so on the Golan on terrain that matches what it could face in Syria or Lebanon.
The war will have conventional and non-conventional characteristics, he says.
A war with Syria could involve tanks and artillery, but would also involve commandos riding motorcycles and firing anti-tank missiles. As shown by the recent explosion of an arms cache in a home in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah has deployed its rockets inside civilian structures, meaning that soldiers will have to go door-to-door to stop the expected attack on the home front.
“We need to have the basic skills from which we can derive the capabilities we will require in a war against Hizbullah, Syria or whoever it might be,” he explains. “There are techniques that a soldier needs to know no matter whom he is fighting against.With Checkpoints Down, Weapons Flow Freely
New Technologies to Support Ground Troops
by IsraelNN TV staff
and 
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Friday, 17 September 2010
Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, the incoming IDF chief of staff, on Thursday began assembling the major-generals he wants to see sit at the General Staf
Tishrei 9, 5771, 17 September 10 12:02
by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has announced that his country will sell advanced anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, as agreed in a 2007 contract. Israel has expressed concern that the deal will endanger Israeli ships in the Mediterranean. The United States had also objected to the deal.
Syria supplies weapons to the Hizbullah terrorist army in southern Lebanon. During the Second Lebanon War, Hizbullah used weapons obtained from Iran to attack an Israeli warship, killing four soldiers and causing serious damage.
The missiles that will be sold to Damascus are P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles. They can carry a warhead weighing up to 200 kilograms, have a range of 300 kilometers, and are difficult to detect due to their ability to cruise near the water's surface.
Serdyukov said Russia sees “no cause for the concern” expressed by the U.S. and Israel. Russia does not believe that the weapons will make it into terrorist hands, he said.
“Undoubtedly, [the contract] would be fulfilled by the Russian side,” he stated.
In May, Russian officials announced that they had agreed to supply Syria with MiG-29 fighters, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-tank weapons, and short-range surface-to-air missiles. Israeli officials criticized the deal, and expressed skepticism as well, saying Syria cannot afford to pay for advanced weaponry.
At the same time, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev visited Damascus to discuss the possibility of Russia assisting Syria in building a nuclear power plant. While there, Medvedev visited Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.
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A group of gazelles runs alongside the jeep as it hops over another mound of dirt in the northern Golan Heights. Suddenly, the Toyota Land Cruiser comes to a halt as a massive Merkava Mk 2 battle tank takes the place of the gazelles, raises its cannon and lets loose a thunder of shells at a target somewhere off in the distance.
“You have the order to fire,” the brigade commander says into the radio. A minute later, an old Syrian Soviet-made tank – left over from the Yom Kippur War – is attacked from multiple tanks and directions.
IDF: Hizbullah Rockets Can Strike Jerusalem
Cheshvan 23, 5770, 10 November 09 07:32
by Ilene Rosenblum(Israelnationalnews.com)
Hizbullah's missiles now have the capacity to reach Israel’s central region, including Jerusalem, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.Gen Gabi Ashkenazi said Tuesday in a briefing with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He also announced that a new operation designed to intercept Katyusha rockets is due to begin next year .
A small percentage of Hizbullah’s current arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles can reach almost 190 miles, Ashkenazi said, well over the distance from southern Lebanon to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the joint air defense exercise, Juniper Cobra, was completed on Tuesday to the satisfaction of all levels of command. Top brass in both the Israeli and U.S. armies called the exercise a great success. In the final operation, ten Patriot missiles were shot down by unmanned planes within a matter of hours. Approximately 1,400 personnel, each from the U.S. military and the IDF, took part in the fifth operation of the biennial exercise.
Major Omri Maost, an anti-aircraft commander in the South, sat in the control room during the launching and was directly responsible for some of the missiles that were launched. He said that the success of the operation boosted soldiers’ confidence.
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Tishrei 9, 5771, 17 September 10 09:17
by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) A Hamas terrorist was killed overnight as the IDF conducted arrests near the city of Tulkarem in Samaria. Soldiers shot and killed the terrorist when he behaved in a threatening manner, running toward soldiers with his hands hidden and refusing to stop.
The man was identified as Iyad Abu-Shalabiya, 38, a Hamas member and former senior commander. He had served time in prison in Israel for security offenses, and was on the IDF's “wanted” list.
After he was shot, it was discovered that Abu-Shalabiya had not been holding a weapon. The IDF opened an investigation into the incident.
12 Hamas terrorists were arrested in the overnight operation. There were no injuries among the IDF troops.
Earlier in the week, IDF troops shot and killed two Gaza Arabs who stood near a tank holding an anti-tank RPG missile. It was later found that the two were not terrorists, but rather were shepherds who had lifted the missile after finding it in their fields.
IDF commanders said the incident proved yet again that Hamas and other terrorist groups put Gaza civilians at risk, in this case, by leaving deadly weapons in a civilian area.
Tishrei 24, 5770, 12 October 09 07:59
by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) Weapons are flowing freely into Shechem and other Palestinian Authority-controlled towns in Samaria thanks to the recent removal of IDF checkpoints. So reports a senior IDF source who spoke to the Hebrew-language Arutz Sheva this week on condition of anonymity.
The weapons come to Shechem from the south, the source explained. Weapons are smuggled from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to Israel's Negev desert. From there, they are smuggled to the Hevron region, where the Judea and Samaria security barrier remains incomplete.
Once the weapons reach Hevron, they can easily be moved north to Ramallah or Shechem, where many checkpoints have been removed over the past year as a “good-will gesture” to the Palestinian Authority.
The eased security restrictions in the Shechem area have had other negative affects as well, he said. As IDF troops have increasingly stayed out of Shechem, allowing PA troops to exert their control over the city, open hostility to the IDF has increased, he reported.
When soldiers entered Shechem frequently, their presence was met with indifference by most residents of the city, he explained. However, now that the presence of soldiers in the city is a rarer event, those troops that enter Shechem are subject to frequent attacks by openly hostile residents.
Hike in Judea and Samaria Terror
Statistics released Sunday by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed a sharp rise in terrorist attacks in the month of September. While much of the increase was noted in Gaza, terrorism was up in Judea and Samaria as well.
Dozens of rock and firebomb attacks have been reported throughout Judea and Samaria in the month of October. Two women have been injured in rock attacks in the region, one seriously.
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IsraelNN TV visited the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) booth at the third annual Latrun Conference to see the new technologies supporting ground troops. Among the latest creations: a remote-control bulldozer and a missile that works without a launching crew or platform.
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