IDF Attacks Smuggling Tunnel Following Mortar, Rocket Attacks - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News
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Monday 10 August 2009
Israel Matzav: Life Magazine photos of Israel 1948-67
Life Magazine photos of Israel 1948-67
Ben Atlas has posted a remarkable collection of Life Magazine photos from Israel that were taken betewen 1948 and 1967. The picture above, of a captured Jewish soldier sitting between two members of the Arab legion, was taken in Jerusalem in June 1948. Israel Matzav: Life Magazine photos of Israel 1948-67Frank Adam comments: Another useful detail in the seated three men photo:Jewish prisoner in pukka Brit shorts and two Arab Legion guards. The corporal on the viewer’s right is a negro. So? The nearest negroes to the Holy Land are in Sudan (deeply south from Egypt) or escaped slaves from Saudi Arabia. Either way he is an immigrant to the region which is one in the eye for the Arab complaint about Zionist Jews being immigrants.
This also illustrates the crafty recruitment of the Arab Legion any number were recruited from outside Jordan in southern Syria, Lebanon, (Saudi, Iraq) and Palestine as commonly taken to be the entire country West of the River J. This profile of personnel being foreign mercenaries were utterly dependent on their engagement & utterly loyal, but Glubb Pasha also realised that he would have less trouble to police by securing the consent of the desert tribes to his operations and recruited from them in balance pro rata to the size of each tribe which in the situation of nomadic pastoralists not averse to smuggling and theft in a subsistence society of who owes and owns whom amounted to representation and committment to the regime of the incipient Jordanian state. It was not so obvious nor institutionalised as the Indian Army system of ethnic regiments and companies with a company or two of different ethnicit(ies) ineach regiment, but it was nevetheless political balancing of the grass roots.See Photos and Read All at :
Israel Matzav: The 'peace process' fundamental assumptions are invalid
The 'peace process' fundamental assumptions are invalid
This article is spot-on except for one small point: The fundamental assumptions behind the 'peace process' were never valid. Yasser Arafat never intended to compromise with Israel. He looked at the history of his organization from his first appearance at the UN in 1975 to the White House lawn in 1993 as proving that the PLO could get its way through the same combination of 'negotiations' and terror that it uses to this day. But other than that, this article is a fair statement of the situation. Israel Matzav: The 'peace process' fundamental assumptions are invalidThe rejection of Olmert’s offer as well as previous offers by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David (July 2000) and the Clinton parameters cast a heavy shadow of doubt over fundamental assumptions underlying the Oslo process. Two of these assumptions were:
Read All at :
Israel Matzav: The FBI looks for Mr. X
The FBI looks for Mr. X
In the Washington Post, Gary Wasserman - who is writing a book about it - talks about the anti-Semitism behind the AIPAC case. Israel Matzav: The FBI looks for Mr. XGround Zero would be the 23-year-old case of Jonathan Pollard. Here one had a real spy, an American Jew working for the Navy who, out of concern for Israel as well as cash, copied and delivered thousands of classified documents. After his arrest in the 1980s, the belief took hold within counterintelligence circles that he was part of a larger spy ring. This led to the search for a "Mr. X," a high-ranking national security official who had helped direct Pollard to needed documents and continued to operate within the government. So the creation myth was born.
That no Mr. X was ever found is beside the point. More relevant is that Pollard could support an operational frame for organizing and understanding a murky, dangerous world. This anti-Zionist concept holds that Israeli objectives run contrary to U.S. national interests; that many American Jews, including those in senior policymaking positions, suffer from divided loyalties; and that pro-Israel political influence holds sway over U.S. government decisions.
While this politically incorrect frame is not going to be discussed in public speeches, its outline appears with a vengeance in the Rosen-Weissman case.
Franklin was apparently sent out by his FBI handlers to tempt Jews. He tried Adam Ciralsky at CBS News, who had once sued the CIA for anti-Semitism, and Richard Perle, who was on his way to vacation in France, as well as Pentagon employees who had done nothing more than work with Franklin. All turned down the offer of informationRead All at :
Israel Matzav: Obama's approval rating in Israel improves... to 7%
Obama's approval rating in Israel improves... to 7%
In June, I reported that the number of Israeli Jews who believed that President Obama is pro-Israel had fallen to 6%. There's a new survey out and you'll be pleased to hear that the number of Israeli Jews who believe he is pro-Israel has risen ... all the way to 7%. And that's not all the bad news for the Obumbler: Israelis support Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies and not the United States' policies: Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Obama's approval rating in Israel improves... to 7%
Israel Matzav: State Department: No change in policy on Hezbullah ... or is there?
State Department: No change in policy on Hezbullah ... or is there?
On Friday, I noted some very wishy washy remarks on terrorism by John Brennan, President Obama's senior adviser on homeland security and counter-terrorism. I wasn't the only one who noticed them, because they came up at Deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood's press briefing on Friday afternoon.
Let's go to the videotape. The part about Hezbullah starts at 6:14 and ends around 9:15. A transcript follows.
Let's go to the videotape. The part about Hezbullah starts at 6:14 and ends around 9:15. A transcript follows.
See Video and Read All at :
Israel Matzav: State Department: No change in policy on Hezbullah ... or is there?
Israel Matzav: John Bolton opposes Israeli nukes?
John Bolton opposes Israeli nukes?
Keep in mind that Bolton is being interviewed on Comedy Central.... On the other hand, Bolton sounds serious.
About 6:58 into this eight-minute tape, John Bolton says that as far as he is concerned, the only country that should have nuclear weapons is the United States of America.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Washington Note via Arms Control Wonk)
About 6:58 into this eight-minute tape, John Bolton says that as far as he is concerned, the only country that should have nuclear weapons is the United States of America.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Washington Note via Arms Control Wonk)
See Video and Read All at :
Israel Matzav: John Bolton opposes Israeli nukes?
Israel Matzav: Oh joy! Hezbullah says it's ready for war
Oh joy! Hezbullah says it's ready for war
Speaking at a gathering marking three years since the Second Lebanon War, Hezbullah's number 2 Sheikh Naim Qassem (pictured) said on Sunday that Hezbullah is ready for war. Israel Matzav: Oh joy! Hezbullah says it's ready for warHezbollah's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said his organization is ready for any outbreak in hostilities that may erupt along the border with Israel.
Qassem, who spoke during a remembrance gathering marking three years since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war, said the Shi'ite militia is not waiting for Israel to begin fighting before making the necessary preparations.Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?
Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?
Nicolas Kristof reports on the possibility that Burma is building a plutonium nuclear reactor that is suitable for weapons development, courtesy of their friends the North Koreans.
Here is a photo of a suspect Burmese building that concerns intelligence experts. As you can see, it is near a river –- like the 5 MWe reactor in Yongbyon, North Korea, whose basic design was copied and built in Syria as well. The building has large power lines feeding it. And it’s certainly an unusual building to have in a remote part of impoverished Burma.
While the prospect of Burma's repressive regime going nuclear is a disturbing one, what's more disturbing is the presence of North Korea as Burma's nuclear patron. You may recall that the Syrian el-Kibar reactor that was destroyed by Israel in September 2007 had been built by the North Koreans and financed by the Iranians.
Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Is Burma trying to obtain nuclear weapons?Israel Matzav: Media bias 101: AFP gets it all wrong
Media bias 101: AFP gets it all wrong
On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that he would not repeat the mistake of expelling Jews from their homes. Israel Matzav: Media bias 101: AFP gets it all wrongSpeaking at the opening of Sunday's weekly government meeting he added, "We will not repeat this mistake. We will not create new evacuees."
The prime minister said the government would discuss extending the mandate for the care of the Gush Katif and northern Samaria evacuees, and that he would tour their communities on Monday.
He said the government would issue new orders to improve the lives of the evacuees as soon as possible. "This means economic rehabilitation, rehabilitation in every sense of the word, rehabilitation now and not later," he said, adding that he had asked his ministers for recommendations on how to do so.Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Gaza schoolyard lie exposed
Gaza schoolyard lie exposed
Remember that Gaza schoolyard - run by UNRWA - in which 40 'innocent civilians' were allegedly killed by Israeli fire in January? If you follow that link, you will see that I was already questioning the UNRWA account the next day (as was the IDF). Soccer Dad blogs the IDF's final report on the incident. Israel Matzav: Gaza schoolyard lie exposed337. The IDF's 'investigation of the incident found that, on 6 January 2009, an IDF force operating in the El-Attatra-Jabaliya area came under an effective barrage of 120mm mortars launched from a site about 3.5 km. from the force. The launching site was situated only 80 metres west of the UNRWA school. The mortar attack lasted for almost an hour, with one mortar being fired every few minutes. As reported in the media, local residents later confirmed that mortar fire was coming from the vicinity of the school.
338. Soon after the source of fire was detected, a scouting unit was dispatched to confirm the location. Approximately 50 minutes after the mortar attack had begun, two independent sources cross-verified the location of the mortars. Only subsequent to this, and after verification of a safety margin of at least 50 metres between the target (i.e., the identified source of mortar fire) and the UNRWA school, did the force respond to the ongoing barrage, by using the most accurate weapon available to it -- 120mm mortars. [In other words, the IDF risked its soldiers lives to send them into the school's vicinity to visually verify the source of the fire before they responded. And they continued to absorb the mortar fire for nearly an hour while waiting for that verification. CiJ]
339. The IDF force that was under attack fired four mortars, about 5-10 minutes after the cross-checked identification of the source of fire, and while Hamas mortars were still being fired towards the forces. The IDF response succeeded in stopping the Hamas mortar attack. Indeed, as a result of the response, five Hamas operatives were killed. The effectiveness of the mission in achieving its military objective is thus indisputable.
340. The IDF acted to defend the lives of soldiers under fire, in order to stop continuing mortar attack. The defensive action targeted an identified source of mortar fire which represented a concrete and immediate threat to the force. The IDF executed the responsive fire with as much precision as possible, given the available munitions. Indeed, the fact that all the Israeli shells landed outside the school grounds demonstrates the care Israel took not to hit the school itself, consistent with its obligations under the Law of Armed Conflict.Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Spain pays for 42 'activists' to violate Israeli building codes
Spain pays for 42 'activists' to violate Israeli building codes
The government of Spain, which just last month was discovered to be financing Breaking the Silence, which presented unsourced hearsay accounts of Operation Cast Lead to the world media, is now financing a two-week trip for 42 'activists' to rebuild two homes in Jerusalem that were demolished because they were built without a permit.
Israel Matzav: Spain pays for 42 'activists' to violate Israeli building codesJeff Halper, the director of the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), which is holding its seventh annual summer "rebuilding camp," said volunteers from all over Europe, Latin America, Spain, the United States, South Africa, Asia, and Australia are currently in the country to rebuild two homes demolished in Anata.
"In particular, there are about 42 people from Spain in the camp, and the Spanish government is funding the camp again this year. They have paid for the 42 tickets of young people to come to the work camp, so that is pretty interesting that governments are starting to encourage people to come and resist the occupation," Halper told The Jerusalem Post.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry's agency for international development cooperation, Aecid, allocated some €80,000 in 2009 to ICAHD. In addition, it allocated €80,000 this year for Breaking the Silence, €100,000 for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and has promised to allocate €70,000 for Rabbis for Human Rights.Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Chicago rallies for Israel with Caroline Glick
Chicago rallies for Israel with Caroline Glick
FinanceDoc attended Sunday's pro-Israel rally in Chicago, featuring JPost columnist Caroline Glick, and filed this report:
Hi Carl
Just got home from the Israel rally in downtown Chicago. The turnout was modest but enthusiastic even though it was about 97 degrees with 90%+ humidity here. There were several speakers culminating in an absolutely power-packed pep talk by Caroline Glick. Too bad I didn't have her as a little league coach; we would have won more games!
Caroline noted that her life had in some ways run a parallel course to that of Obama, starting out in Chicago and following on to Columbia (or Beir Zeit on the Hudson as she refers to it!). Of couse, that's where the similarities end and we now have an administration in Washington -- including several Jews in high places -- deeply hostile to Israel. It's nothing personal she notes, but supporters of Israel need to remain strong and continue speaking truth to power. We need to remind Washington that the US-Israel relationship benefits not just Israel but has always benefited America as well. For me, the most powerful part of her talk was when she pointed out that the Jews have paid for the land of Israel three times: with blood, money, and hard work. She really roused the crowd when she said, "the Jews didn't occupy Jerusalem; they liberated it".
There was a small counter-demonstration up the street with the usual "End the siege" and "Honk for Gaza" signs but the police kept the two groups apart. My only misgiving was that the majority of those participating in the pro-Israel rally were north of 50 years-old while those in the counter-rally were largely in their 20s and 30s. This is likely a reflection of the overall demographics of the two sides but I couldn't help but think that as the generation of those who witnessed the Holocaust and WWII die off, Israel will have an increasingly tough time making its case to a new generation of Americans who are often ignorant of history and do not understand the costs of freedom.
What FinanceDoc says about the demographics of the demonstrators is not a good sign, but it's the summer and kids are in camp and families are away on vacation, so I hope that's not indicative of support for Israel. I understand that to some extent it is since we know that intermarried tend to be less supportive of Israel, and that - unfortunately - is where things are heading (Someone yesterday sent me a graphic that claims that 49% of Reform Jews, 33% of Conservative Jews but only 6% of Orthodox Jews of all stripes in the US intermarry. Unfortunately, the majority of Jews aren't Orthodox - yet).
By the way, Caroline graduated Columbia (Bir Zeit on the Hudson - I like that :-) in 1991, which means she's probably 38-39 now. So she's definitely under 50.
Here are some more pictures - thanks to FinanceDoc!
Read and See All at :
Israel Matzav: Chicago rallies for Israel with Caroline GlickThe Holiness of the State of Israel
The Holiness of the State of Israel
[Sefer Al Diglo #33]
Question: I have seen various times that the State of Israel is referred to as a holy entity. It is not clear to me, however, why it is not enough to say that the State is the beginning of the Redemption (Atchalta De-Geulah). Why do we also have to call it holy, something which does not seem correct in reality?
Answer: The State of Israel is a holy entity, because it is a mitzvah, as the Ramban explains that it is incumbent upon us to possess the Land, and not abandon it into the hands of other nations (positive mitzvah #4, addendum to Sefer Ha-Mitzvot of the Rambam), i.e. that we are required to establish a state and a mitzvah is holy, as evidenced in the formula of the blessing, "Who sanctifies us with His commandments." Even though there are problematic aspects in the State, which need to be corrected with all our might, this does not diminish the holiness of the State, which in its essence is the dominion of the Nation of Israel over its Land. For example, the mitzvah of tzitzit remains holy, even if the man who is wearing it is discussing frivolous matters.
taken from Torat HaRav Aviner
Who Started This Time?
Who Started This Time?
One of the perennial problems in following Israel's wars and their lulls, is that an isolated incident isn't obviously isolated until the following days or perhaps even weeks prove it so. Say there's a period of calm, and one side launches an act of violence. Will this shatter the calm and set off a spiral of violence, or will the lull continue after the brief interuption? (And of course there are then all sorts of subsidiary questions, such as what preceded the initial act of violence, were the casualties from the launching side or the defending side, and so on and on: the Israel-Arab conflict is fiendishly complex on this level and it's a rare outsider who can keep track, although they'll never admit it).
Anyway. For the past few months there has been calm on the Israel-Gaza front. The longer this goes on the more plausible Israel's justification for the operation last January: if it suceeded, it must have been proportional. Yet this must be stated a bit gingerly. Someday there will be another round of violence, and only then will we know (if we'll know) if the lull was a Hamas decision not to tangle with those mazhnoon (crazy) Israelis, or perhaps the opposite: a tactic of lulling Israeli civilians back to Sderot and vicinity and out of their shelters, so that Hamas can kill lots of them when it decides the time is right.
These are only some among many considerations. There are lots of other levels.
Having said that, it is worth noting and recording that following a few months of general quiet, and some weeks of complete quiet, the Palestinians yesterday started shooting mortars and one Qassam rocket; that Israel retaliated by bombing one Rafah tunnel; and then... now we wait to see what then. If the shooting escalates again, this wil have been the starting point and the Palestinians started it - so remember that because our critics will spin it otherwise. If there's no escalation, remember that also: the Palestinians started, we responded, and everyone went back to their regular occupations.
Ah, one more thing. The mortars the Palestinians launched yesterday? They were aimed at.... Palestinian civilians on their way into Israel for medical care. You couldn't make this up.
Anyway. For the past few months there has been calm on the Israel-Gaza front. The longer this goes on the more plausible Israel's justification for the operation last January: if it suceeded, it must have been proportional. Yet this must be stated a bit gingerly. Someday there will be another round of violence, and only then will we know (if we'll know) if the lull was a Hamas decision not to tangle with those mazhnoon (crazy) Israelis, or perhaps the opposite: a tactic of lulling Israeli civilians back to Sderot and vicinity and out of their shelters, so that Hamas can kill lots of them when it decides the time is right.
These are only some among many considerations. There are lots of other levels.
Having said that, it is worth noting and recording that following a few months of general quiet, and some weeks of complete quiet, the Palestinians yesterday started shooting mortars and one Qassam rocket; that Israel retaliated by bombing one Rafah tunnel; and then... now we wait to see what then. If the shooting escalates again, this wil have been the starting point and the Palestinians started it - so remember that because our critics will spin it otherwise. If there's no escalation, remember that also: the Palestinians started, we responded, and everyone went back to their regular occupations.
Ah, one more thing. The mortars the Palestinians launched yesterday? They were aimed at.... Palestinian civilians on their way into Israel for medical care. You couldn't make this up.
On Sunday, Gaza militants fired mortars at a crossing into Israel just as Palestinian patients were being transferred for treatment, a Palestinian official said. "It's a miracle nobody was hurt," Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said.
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
Knowledgeable Israeli Voters
Knowledgeable Israeli Voters
I never cease to wonder at the people who know far less than most Israelis about the issues most important to the lives of the Israelis, who never-the-less pontificate endlessly about how they know better.
This item poses an interesting question: if the Israelis are far more engaged in the political process than the electorate of any other democracy, is it conceivable they may even know more about their own affairs than some of their critics do, say, about theirs?
This item poses an interesting question: if the Israelis are far more engaged in the political process than the electorate of any other democracy, is it conceivable they may even know more about their own affairs than some of their critics do, say, about theirs?
taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations
VULTURES
So it seems stupidity as its followers around here.
Also in Portugal there are morons as you all can see in the picture below:
![[BE+Gaza.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_c2ETkKGytSI/Sn0YGE-cF0I/AAAAAAAAAyY/YTk9Ojyi59c/s1600/BE%2BGaza.jpg)
These guys are activists of a so-called 'Comité de Solidariedade com a Palestina' (solidarity committee with palestine) demonstrating outside a stadium during a football match last week, when Israeli team Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv FC won by 1 - 0 the Portuguese team Paços de Ferreira.
Defending the interests of the 'Bloco de Esquerda' (a left wing party) they became visible like vultures in some events linked to Israel. They also tried to harass the spectators of Leonard Cohen's Lisbon concert (about two weeks ago) in order for him to cancel the Tel Aviv concert.
This article was based on a post published by LISBOA-TEL AVIV blog. To read the original post please click at :
ABUTRES