‘Frantic’ Arms Race in Middle East, Says Air Force Chief
Sivan 20, 5771, 22 June 11 09:36
by Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com)
"The Middle East is in the throes of a frantic arms race, both in numbers of weapons and unbelievable financial costs", Maj. Gen. Ido Nehoshtan, the commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), told IsraelDefense this week.
"The race is going on in almost every country in the region, including organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah. Whoever can buy [weapons] – buys [them], and invests all his efforts in force building. It's just about being equipped with smart weapons, but also with inexpensive devices that we learned can be extremely threatening. Syria, for example, is getting new armament from Russia while it also invests in air power and anti-aircraft missiles,” added Nehoshtan.
The Air Force’s commander is also worried about the current extreme instability of region’s regimes – and said that the situation makes investment in the Air Force even more crucial.
"Today the name of the game is building a versatile, flexible multi-task force", he explained. "The world is transforming in front of our eyes, and we need to adapt ourselves to it with the tools that we have.
"Israel has to know how to deal with the challenges on our doorstep – engage in different types of campaigns, such as asymmetrical warfare against missiles and rockets launched from the center of urban areas, where operations are extremely difficult, and in campaigns against regular military forces.
"The insurance policy that Israel is building must be capable of defending the country from all the threats in all the sectors. It must know how to operate at different ranges in different theaters. If you analyze all of the security risks that Israel faces, the [seemingly] logical -- but mistaken -- conclusion is that we have to establish a number of armies according to the number of threats. But since we have only one army, it will have to deal with the wide variety of threats.
"Therefore multi-tasking and versatility are today's buzzwords. And I say this loud and clear: investment in air power is the best policy. The air force can adapt itself to any type of task".
IsraelDefense asked Nehoshtan about the Ground Forces' interest in a budget that would enable it to acquire precision strike capability. He said: "The Air Force is the best firepower the ground forces have. The expertise required to deliver Precision Guided Munitions into the enemy's depth belongs solely to the air force. Period! This expertise is not just in the platform carrying the munitions but primarily in the operational cycle."
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War Drill: Cabinet in Secret Bunker, Knesset in Shelter
Sivan 20, 5771, 22 June 11 10:17
by Gil Ronen & Hezki Ezra
(Israelnationalnews.com) Israel's Cabinet met in a secret location in the Judean Mountains Wednesday as part of the Turning Point 5 drill rehearsing a regional war. Members of the Knesset, too, took shelter when the sirens sounded at 11:00 A.M., in a sheltered zone inside the Knesset building, located behind the parliament’s plenum.
There was little point in maintaining any secrecy about the Knesset drill, seeing as most of the Knesset’s Arab members are openly hostile to the state of Israel and have sided with its enemies.
MK Azmi Bishara, who headed the Balad faction, escaped the country four years ago after the Shin Bet interrogated him on suspicion of passing information on possible missile targets to Hizbullah during wartime. Despite this, Israel’s High Court under President Dorit Beinisch allowed Balad and another openly hostile Arab party, Raam-Taal, to run for the Knesset in 2009. MK
Danny Danon (Likud) used the drill as an opportunity to remind the public that in case of war, Israel’s enemies are the ones who will be in shelters. “The lesson should be taught in all of the countries around us that Israel is ready for peace and war at the same time,” he told Arutz Sheva.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said that “the Knesset Guard and rescue teams are always on alert for all possible scenarios and there are numerous protected zones throughout the building.”
Speaker Rivlin has consistently defended the rogue Arab MKs from sanctions over the years, insisting that attacks upon them are discriminatory. Many pundits believe that Rivlin’s position is affected by his hope that the Arab MKs will vote for him as next president of Israel when the time comes.
Some observers noted the location of the Cabinet's emergency bunker, in the Judean mountains, underscores the strategic importance of the region for Israel's defense.
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Gantz Doesn't Expect War
Sivan 20, 5771, 22 June 11 08:41
by Gavriel Queenann
(Israelnationalnews.com) IDF Chief of the General Benny Gantz participated Wednesday in the Home Front Command's "Turning Point 5" civil defense drill.
"The exercise is just the beginning," Lt. Gen. Gantz said while observing a drill in Nazareth Ilit. "This is not the first drill and won't be the last and it is not particularly unusual. It is important to continue to train in order to be prepared."
When asked about the chances of war with Lebanon or Syria in the North, or a major operation vis-a-vis Hamas in the South, Gantz told reporters he didn't expect war.
"I don't foresee us entering a conflict any time soon. But reality is uncertain, and has the ability to change from one situation to another in a matter of hours. It is important to continue to train properly. Lessons will be learned from this exercise and we will continue it next year," Gantz said.
Lebanese officials close to the Hizbullah senior leadership said the terror organization might be preparing a strike on Israel to shift international pressure away from its ally and protector Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The IDF's new Home Front Commander Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg stressed this week's civil defense drills are not in response to a specific threat and only serve to "prepare civilians for life-threatening scenarios."
Many observers, however, suggest Israel would not engage in massive nation-wide civil defense drills if there were no tangible threats on the Israel's security horizon.
"The Middle East is in the throes of a frantic arms race, both in numbers of weapons and unbelievable financial costs", Major General Ido Nehoshtan, commander of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), told IsraelDefense this week.
Former head of IDF intelligence Amos Yadlin, also speaking about Wednesday's drill, warned that missiles aimed at Israel today do not only target "peripheral" communities such as Sderot and Kiryat Shmona.
"They are being aimed at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem," Yadlin told Army Radio. "These missiles will not disappear, even if a peace agreement with the Palestinians is signed."
As a part of Wednesday's civil defense drill, Israel's security cabinet met in an underground bunker in an undisclosed location in the Judean Hills on Wednesday. The bunker is meant for the prime minister and his cabinet in case of a missile attack.
The Knesset also took part in the exercise on Wednesday, stopping a plenum discussion for ten minutes and evacuating to the building's bomb shelter.
Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin said parliamentarians "see special importance that the Knesset take part in this exercise, not just as citizens of the state but rather because we are threatened and are a target of attack."
U.S. Warns its Citizens Against Taking Part in Gaza Flotilla
Sivan 21, 5771, 23 June 11 02:15
by Elad Benari
(Israelnationalnews.com) The United States warned its citizens on Wednesday against participating in the Freedom Flotilla 2, aimed at breaking Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The State Department issued a new travel advisory for Israel, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, saying the Gaza coast is “dangerous and volatile.”
The advisory notes that the IDF “strictly controls the crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip...U.S. citizens are advised against traveling to Gaza by any means, including via sea.”
The warning then goes on to say, “Previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea have been stopped by Israeli naval vessels and resulted in the injury, death, arrest, and deportation of U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens participating in any effort to reach Gaza by sea should understand that they may face arrest, prosecution, and deportation by the Government of Israel.”
It also notes that “The Government of Israel has announced its intention to seek ten-year travel bans to Israel for anyone participating in an attempt to enter Gaza by sea.”
The warning by the State Department comes after earlier in the week, a group of Jewish Americans said they planned to take part in this year’s flotilla to Gaza.
The Americans hope to sail from Greece on “The Audacity of Hope” ship. One of them, Jewish activist Leslie Cogan told the French news agency AFP that the flotilla is “a cargo of friendship, a cargo of peace.”
Israel imposed a partial blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas terrorist group ousted the rival Fatah faction in a bloody war more than four years ago. Thousands of tons of humanitarian aid were allowed through land crossings, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last year canceled the blockade on all goods except for material that can be used for the Hamas terrorist infrastructure.
The maritime embargo remains in effect because Hamas can easily use fishing boats to bring into Gaza weapons from Iran and Syria.
Last year, a similar attempt to break the blockade on Gaza resulted in IDF navy officers storming the Mavi Marmara. The so-called ‘peace activists’ on board attempted to lynch the soldiers, who had boarded the ship in accordance with international maritime law.
Nine members of the lynch-mob were killed when the commandos were forced to open fire to save their imperiled comrades.
Israel Flying High at Air Show
Sivan 20, 5771, 22 June 11 01:15
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(Israelnationalnews.com) A remote control limitary force and a C-Music pod for civilian aircraft are only two of several made-in-Israel innovations that are sweeping the Paris Air Show as the defense industry tries to improve its bulging exports of $7.2 billion.
The Israel Export Institute has invested nearly $2 million for a pavilion at the Air Show, which attracts more than 400,000 people from around the world.
Besides the Iron Dome rocket interceptor and the anti-tank missile Trophy system, Israeli companies are displaying several innovations for the first time.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is showing off its "missile farm" of its Barak-8 air defense system and ground-to-ground missile interceptors, such as Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, the Jumper and Lora artillery missiles, and a lightweight laser-guided bomb.
Elbit is unveiling its remote-controlled concept for seizing territory in the heart of an urban area. Its C-Music pod is designed to protect civilian airplanes from shoulder-launched missiles and is the first of its kind in the world. The system is to be installed by Israeli airlines.
Based on MUSIC systems currently in use on helicopters and medium turbo prop fixed wing aircraft, C-MUSIC’s technology creates a laser beam that is directed towards the tracked missile, effectively defeating the incoming threat,” according to Elbit. Its fully automatic operation has no impact on the flight crew workload.
Elbit already has won a multi-million dollar contract from an Italian company at the Air Show. Elettronica SpA ("Altronika") is participating in a project to protect airplanes with the MUSIC system.
Vilna’i: We've never been better prepared for all-out warBy YAAKOV KATZ
The Jerusalem Post -06/23/2011 01:15
Israel has never been better prepared for an all-out war that could see thousands of missiles fired into the country, Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Sirens sounded nationwide at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and civilians were asked to enter bomb shelters and safe rooms to drill how to respond during a conflict.
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The “Turning Point 5” drill started on Sunday and simulated a war with Hamas, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon in which more than 10,000 missiles and rockets – including some with chemical warheads – were fired into Israel, killing hundreds of Israelis, wounding over 20,000 and causing hundreds of thousands to be evacuated from their homes.
“The drill has gone surprisingly well in every aspect, and we are still working to bridge the gaps we discovered,” Vilna’i said. “This is the fifth such exercise, and we are far better prepared today than we were five years ago.
“Today, all government ministries and agencies are synchronized and there is no longer any argument over who is responsible for what.”
On Wednesday morning, the cabinet met in a bunker near Jerusalem that was recently built to serve as its office during wartime.
During the meeting, the IDF presented the results of the exercise as well as recommendations for improvement.
Vilna’i said that his office, which until now has worked as part of the Defense Ministry, has received approval from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to become an independent government ministry with authority over the home front. Its main division will be the National Emergency Management Authority, established following the Second Lebanon War.
The cabinet decided to allocate NIS 1.2 billion to buy gas masks for the remaining 40 percent of the public that will still be without them by the end of the year.
Vilna’i said the budget would be spread out over a number of years, but that eventually every citizen would receive a gas mask.
The scenario simulated during the drill was completely realistic, he said.
“I wish it wasn’t – but this is the scenario that we came up with by analyzing our enemies’ capabilities,” he said.
“Nevertheless, we need to understand that we are also powerful, and that we have established deterrence against Hezbollah and Hamas, which is why they are currently not attacking us. They also need to know that if they do attack us in the future, we will hit them hard and fast.”
IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz predicted that a conflict with Hezbollah and Syria would not occur soon.
“I don't foresee us entering a conflict any time soon. But reality is uncertain, and it has the ability to change from one situation to another in a matter of hours,” he said.
“It is important to continue to train properly,” Gantz stressed. “Lessons will be learned from this exercise, which we will continue next year.”
Also speaking about the drill on Wednesday, former OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin warned that the missiles aimed at Israel today targeted not only peripheral communities such as Sderot and Kiryat Shmona, but also Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“These missiles will not disappear, even if a peace agreement with the Palestinians is signed,” Yadlin said on the second day of the President’s Conference in Jerusalem.
The Knesset also took part in the exercise on Wednesday, stopping a plenum discussion for 10 minutes and evacuating to the building’s bomb shelter.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the parliamentarians “attribute special importance to the Knesset’s taking part in this exercise – not just as citizens of the state, but because we are under threat and a target for attack.”
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.
==========
PM: Meeting Hamas terms for Gilad will endanger IsraelisBy TOVAH LAZAROFF
06/22/2011 21:53
Talkbacks (2)
Meeting Hamas’s demands for the release of captive soldier Gilad Schalit would endanger Israelis, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, three days before the fifth anniversary of the kidnapping.
He spoke on YouTube in response to a taped question from a man who introduced himself as “Shalom from Ashdod.”
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He had a simple query for Netanyahu: “Why has he not been freed?” Answered Netanyahu: “We are dealing with a cruel enemy that has held Gilad for five years, and even now has not allowed even the Red Cross to visit him.
“They are demanding terms that would endanger hundreds of Israelis. I want to bring Gilad home, I am ready to [do so] by various means, but I also have to worry about your security, and that of your children and the citizens of Israel,” said Netanyahu.
“We are doing many things that I cannot describe. I hope we will soon be able to see Gilad with us once again.
“There is no day that I do not deal with this issue. I hope that, in the end, I will succeed. That will be a big day for the State of Israel, a big day for Gilad and his family,” Netanyahu said.
This Saturday will mark the fifth year since Schalit was kidnapped as he patrolled the Gaza border near Kerem Shalom. Since then, has been held captive by Hamas, which is demanding in exchange for Schalit’s freedom the release from Israeli jails of 1,000 security prisoners – including those involved in terrorist attacks leading to the death of Israelis.
On Saturday, Schalit’s family and friends plan to rally at noon close to the border at Kerem Shalom to demand his release.
Separately, his supporters plan to build a prison cell at a studio in Herzliya. On Saturday, every hour on the hour, a different celebrity or wellknown personality will enter the cell. It will be broadcast live on Facebook.
On Thursday, Schalit’s older brother Yoel is to graduate from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
An Egyptian source denied any progress on a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, the London-based Al- Hayat newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The source also told Al- Hayat that he had received a letter from Hamas with a message for Israel, saying the Islamist group was willing to restart negotiations and even reduce the number of prisoners it demands be freed in exchange for Schalit.
Hamas also complained that Israel had taken a hardline position in negotiations, which, according the letter, made the negotiations “extremely difficult.”
The Egyptian source told the newspaper that Hamas had rejected the deal formulated by the previous German mediator, and that Cairo was now acting as the intermediary between the two sides.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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Analysis: Hezbollah may fight Israel to relieve SyriaBy REUTERS
06/22/2011 19:04
Talkbacks (5)
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group is preparing for a possible war with Israel to relieve perceived Western pressure to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, its guardian ally, sources close to the movement say.
The radical Shi'ite group, which has a powerful militia armed by Damascus and Iran, is watching the unrest in neighboring Syria with alarm and is determined to prevent the West from exploiting popular protests to bring down Assad.
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Hezbollah supported pro-democracy movements that toppled Western-backed leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, but officials say it will not stand idly by as international pressure mounts on Assad to yield to protesters.
It is committed to do whatever it takes politically to help deflect what it sees as a foreign campaign against Damascus, but it is also readying for a possible war with Israel if Assad is weakened.
"Hezbollah will never intervene in Syria. This is an internal issue for President Bashar to tackle. But when it sees the West gearing up to bring him down, it will not just watch," a Lebanese official close to the group's thinking told Reuters.
"This is a battle for existence for the group and it is time to return the favor (of Syria's support). It will do that by fending off some of the international pressure," he added.
The militant group, established nearly 30 years ago to confront Israel's occupation of south Lebanon, fought an inconclusive 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
Hezbollah and Syria have both denied that the group has sent fighters to support a military crackdown on the wave of protests against Assad's rule.
Hezbollah believes the West is working to reshape the Middle East by replacing Assad with a ruler friendly to Israel and hostile to itself.
"The region now is at war, a war between what is good and what is backed by Washington... Syria is the good," said a Lebanon-based Arab official close to Syria.
He said the United States, which lost an ally when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, "wants to shift the crisis" by supporting protests against its adversary.
"For us this will be confronted in the best possible way," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lebanese official says Syria not alone
Analysts rule out the possibility of a full-scale regional war involving Syria, Iran and Lebanon on one side against Israel backed by the United States. A war pitting Hezbollah against Israel was more likely, they said.
"There might be limited wars here or there but nobody has the interest (in a regional war)," said Lebanese analyst Oussama Safa. "The region is of course heading towards radical change... How it will be arranged and where it will leads is not clear."
Hezbollah inflicted serious damage and casualties by firing missiles deep into Israel during the 2006 conflict, and was able to sustain weeks of rocket attacks despite a major Israeli military incursion into Lebanon.
Western intelligence sources say the movement's arsenal has been more than replenished since the fighting ended, with European-led UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon powerless to prevent supplies entering mostly from Syria.
Syria, which borders Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, has regional influence because of its alliance with Iran and its continued role in Lebanon, despite ending a 29-year military presence there in 2005. It also has an influence in Iraq.
"If the situation in Syria collapses it will have repercussions that will go beyond Syria," the Arab official said. "None of Syria's allies would accept the fall of Syria even if it led to turning the table upside down -- war (with Israel) could be one of the options."
The Lebanese official said: "All options are open including opening the fronts in Golan (Heights) and in south Lebanon."
Palestinian protests last month on the Lebanese and Syrian frontlines with Israel were "a message that Syria will not be left alone facing an Israeli-American campaign", he said.
Israel and Syria are technically at war, but their frontier had been calm since the war in 1973, when Israel repelled a Syrian assault to recapture the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Lebanon forms new government dominated by pro-Syrian parties
For Syria's allies in Lebanon, the first step to support Damascus has already been taken. After months of delay, Prime Minister Najib Mikati formed a new Lebanese government last week dominated by pro-Syrian parties, including Hezbollah.
That followed five months of political vacuum after Hezbollah and its allies toppled Western-backed Saad al-Hariri's coalition in a dispute over a UN-backed tribunal investigating the killing in 2005 of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, Saad's father.
The tribunal is expected to accuse members of the Shi'ite group in the killing, and some Lebanese had believed that the delay in forming a government was deliberate, to avoid the crisis a new government might face when indictments are issued.
"Our people thought at first the vacuum would be in our interest but after the events in Syria we have noticed that the vacuum is harmful," said the Lebanese official.
The still confidential indictment was amended last month after the prosecutor said "new evidence emerged" but Syria and its allies suspect it will now target Syrian officials. Both Syria and Hezbollah deny any role in killing Hariri.
The official said the new government might halt the state's cooperation with and contribution to funding the court, as well as withdrawing Lebanese judges from the tribunal.
"The government in its new form will not allow Lebanon to be used against Syria, or those who are promoting the American agenda on the expense of Syria," he said.
Tension in Lebanon increased in the first weeks of the uprising against Assad when Syria accused Hariri supporters of funding and arming protesters, a charge they denied.
"As Syria stood by Lebanon's side during the July war in 2006 (between Hezbollah and Israel), Lebanon will be on its side to face this war that is no less dangerous," the official said.
So far, Syria's allies believe that Assad has things under control and that the unrest, in which rights groups say 1,300 people have been killed, has not posed a threat on his rule.
While Hezbollah's fate is not linked exclusively to Assad's future, his departure would make life more difficult for the group, which depends on Syria's borders for arms supply.
"Syria is like the lung for Hezbollah...it is its backup front where it gets its weapon and other stuff," said another Lebanese official who declined to be named.
Formed under the guidance of Iran's religious establishment, Hezbollah had a thorny start with late President Hafez al-Assad, but later emerged as a powerful Syrian ally. Relations improved further after Bashar succeeded his father in 2000.
"Hezbollah is extremely tense and they are concerned about the developments in Syria," said Hilal Khashan, a political analyst at the American University in Beirut.
"The storm is building up now and after it everything will change...In all cases, no matter what happens in Syria, developments there will not be in favor for Hezbollah."
While he dismissed the possibility of a regional war, Augustus Richard Norton, author of a book on Hezbollah, said an Israeli Lebanese war may be possible, adding he believed Israel was likely to strike first.
"It is not too challenging to imagine a scenario for a Israel-Lebanon war to erupt, especially given the Obama administration's diffident and permissive approach to Israel.
"...It is far more likely that Israel will pursue a war with the goal of crippling Hezbollah and and punishing Lebanon than that a war will be intentionally provoked by Hezbollah," he said.
Hezbollah's image tarnished due to support for Assad
In the meantime Hezbollah, which has praised other Arab uprisings and enjoys strong support among ordinary Arabs over its confrontations with Israel, has seen its image tarnished because of its support for Assad.
"The events in Syria have not impacted Hezbollah in a significant strategic sense, but have certainly put the party in an uncomfortable position," said Elias Muhanna, a Middle East scholar at Harvard.
"The fact that (Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah has supported the regime's war against the opposition in Syria while attacking similar regime actions in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen has been pointed out by many as a blatant double standard."
Hezbollah argues there is no contradiction in its position, saying Assad has popular support and is committed to reform.
"When the regime is against Israel and is committed to reforms then Hezbollah decision is to be by the side of the people and the leadership through urging them for dialogue and partnership," the Lebanese official said.
"That is why the group is in harmony with itself when it comes to Syria. It has its standards clear," he added.
"For the resistance and Iran, the partnership with Syria is a principal and crucial issue, there is no compromise. Each time Syria is targeted there will be a response."
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