Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

International-UN-NGOs

Top Dutch court confirms Gantz can’t be sued for civilian deaths in 2014 Gaza strike

2023-08-27

A strike against the use of universal jurisdiction by national courts in the soft jihad of the law against Israel... and others.

[IsraelTimes] Ex-Defense Minister hails Israel’s ’strong and independent judicial system,’ as ruling upholds findings that senior IDF officers enjoy ’functional immunity’ from civil proceedings in Netherlands

The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ruling that a Paleostinian man cannot sue Israel’s former defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
The highest Dutch court confirmed findings by judges in two lower courts that Benny Gantz

...a leader of the center-left opposition to Bibi Netanyahu. In recent elections he and his party were clients of Barack Obama’s favourite strategist, Joel Benenson, who also guided Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign...

and former Air Force Commander Amir Eshel

...who has actually avoided a political career, unlike former PM General Gantz...

are protected from civil proceedings in the Netherlands because they have "functional immunity."

The long-running case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the two Israelis argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®, terror group.

Ziada, who also has Dutch citizenship, wanted the court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages of 600,000 euros ($650,000). His legal team argued that the men didn’t have immunity because their actions amounted to war crimes.

In a written reaction, Ziada said he was "disappointed and angered" by the Supreme Court ruling and is considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

"The court has once again chosen to put politics over people and blocked access to justice. Today’s ruling only deepens the injustice we have suffered," he added.

Israel’s Justice Ministry told a lower Dutch court that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed four Paleostinians hiding in the house. It said the attack was permissible under international law.

Indeed.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers themselves have said that two of their fighters were in the building.

Q.E.D.

Gantz thanked his country’s justice and foreign ministries for leading "the push that led to the dismissal of the lawsuit against me and against the former Air Force Commander Major General (ret.) Amir Eshel in the Netherlands."

Gantz — who was military chief of staff at the time of the airstrike in Gaza — and Eshel had immunity because they were carrying out Israeli government policies, Dutch courts in The Hague ruled. The Supreme Court agreed in a short written ruling issued Friday.

Gantz is now head of the centrist opposition party National Unity in the Knesset. Eshel, a former director-general of the Defense Ministry when Gantz served as defense minister from 2020 to late last year, was named this month as a senior fellow at the hawkish Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Gantz welcomed the dismissal of the lawsuit, crediting what he described as Israel’s "strong and independent judicial system" that protects Israeli soldiers and commanders "even in front of international courts."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government is currently pushing to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Supreme Court, a move that the security establishment has worried could render the country more vulnerable to international prosecution.

"As the system protects us — it is our duty to protect it and preserve its strength and independence," Gantz said.

Israel said it launched the 2014 operation to stop rocket fire against its citizens and destroy tunnels used for smuggling weapons and bully boys. The conflict, known as Operation Protective Edge in Israel, left 2,251 dead on the Paleostinian side, most of them civilians,

...explained by the habit of Hamas, et al, of storing war materiel and working spaces amid and underneath civilian buildings like apartment blocks and schools. The Geneva Conventions specifically place the responsibility for resulting civilian casualties on those using them as a shield....

and 74 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.

Low Israeli casualties are explained by Israeli society choosing to spend a great deal of money and effort to harden civilian sites and train civilians to seek shelter when the air raid sirens go off, despite the Gazans deliberately targetting civilian rather than military sites, targetting civilians being contrary to the Geneva Conventions. Also, Gazan rocketeers are really bad at hitting their targets — on average a quarter of their rockets and missiles come straight back down in the Strip.

Link

Europe

Dutch court upholds Gantz immunity in Israeli airstrike case

2021-12-08

Whew! That was getting tiresome. Now to get the rest of them to stop playing at universal jurisdiction.

[AlAhram] A Dutch appeals court upheld Tuesday a lower court's decision to throw out a civil case against Israel's defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
The Hague District Court ruled in January 2020 that the case against Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and former air force commander Amir Eshel couldn't proceed because the men have "functional immunity from jurisdiction.''

The Hague Court of Appeal said Tuesday that the lower court was right to rule that Gantz, who was a senior military officer at the time of the airstrike, and Eshel had immunity because they were carrying out Israeli government policies.

The case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the men argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
conflict. He wanted the Dutch court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages.

The lower court also said that Ziada was free to sue the men in Israel. At hearings in 2019, Ziada rejected the idea that he has access to justice in Israel as "farcical as well as vicious.''

Ziada told an earlier hearing that he lost his mother, three brothers, a sister-in-law and a 12-year-old nephew in the airstrike.

Israel's Justice Ministry told the court before the 2020 decision that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed four bully boyz hiding in the house. It said the attack was permissible under international law. Gaza's Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, rulers themselves have said that two bully boyz were in the building.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel Air Force asks to swap four KC-46 tanker aircraft instead of two

2021-10-12

[Jpost] The Israeli Air Force has asked the US Air Force to advance the acquisition of four out of eight tankers that are required for long-range missions, with two of them asked to be delivered immediately.

The US State Department approved the possible sale of up to eight KC-46 tanker aircraft and related equipment to Israel for an estimated cost of $2.4 billion last March, marking the first time that Washington has allowed Jerusalem to buy new tankers.

Israel was set to receive two of the Boeing-made planes by late 2023 and during former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last visit to Washington, he raised the issue that two of the eight tankers be supplied in the next year.

But now, according to defense ministry sources, senior IAF officers have requested the supply be sped up and that four of the KC-46 tankers be supplied in the next two to three years.

Though the agreement has not yet been signed despite the IAF having selected the KC-46 as the fleet’s future tankers, source in the defense ministry have explained that the negotiation is still ongoing as there are “many details relating to the order that have yet to be completed before being signed.”

The Jerusalem Post has learned that one of the reason for the delay in signing the contract was that though the IAF had initially requested that two of the tankers earmarked for the USAF be swapped, they are now trying to have four tankers swapped instead of two.

Defense ministry officials have confirmed that they are hoping to get the final details and sign the contract soon.

According to sources, the call was made after Israel’s aging tanker fleet was grounded last year.

The KC-46 tankers, which will replace Israel’s Ram (Boeing 707) tanker aircraft that are required for long-range missions and nearing the age of 60.

Israel’s fleet of Ram planes, the number of which remains confidential, are former The new KC-46 tankers can refuel jets with 1,200 gallons of fuel per minute by its fly-by-wire 55-foot refueling boom. It also can have wing air refueling pods allowing three jets to be refueled at once within three to four minutes.

With a range of 11,830 km with the capacity to unload some 207,000 pounds of fuel, the KC-46 can refuel over 64 different types of aircraft.

All fuel tanks in the KC-46-which are purposely built for combat close to the battlefield-are fully inerted and are configured with ballistic armor. The plane also has IR countermeasures, RF warnings, threat avoidance systems, and NVIS lighting (Night Vision Imaging System) allowing the plane to land in complete darkness giving the massive plane full covert capabilities.

Israel is also able to add in indigenous electric warfare countermeasure systems.

With a need to keep ahead of increased threats in the Middle East, the Israeli Air Force is set to place orders on several new aircraft to upgrade its aging squadrons, including fighter jets and transport helicopters.

In November, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Eshel warned that continued postponement of the deal undermines Israel’s security. He blamed the lack of a budget as being a major hurdle blocking its advancement.

The IDF “urgently” needs new air platforms, said the former Commander of the Israel Air Force, referring to Israel’s fleet of Re’em Boeing 707 tanker aircraft, the Ya’sur heavy-lift helicopters that are close to 50 years and fighter jets.

“There is no country in the world that flies platforms that are this old. To fly a refueler or a helicopter with more than 50 soldiers inside is not trivial. These are non-trivial risk levels. If God forbid something happens, what would we say to ourselves? Our operational and safety needs are paramount. There is no other way to present it.” civilian aircraft adapted for military uses such as aerial refueling for fighter jets, as well as its fleet of transport aircraft.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel To Get Direct Access To SBIRS Sats & More F-35 Capabilities; Esper Visiting

2020-10-28

[Breaking Defense] TEL AVIV: The United States, pressed by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz In Washington last week, will grant Israel direct access to highly classified satellites such as the missile detection birds known as SBIRS and ensure Israel gets critical defense platforms in a very short time by using production slots planned for the U.S armed forces.

Israeli sources say that the agreement guarantees Israel’s supremacy for decades to come. "I can say that the agreement is something that will help keep Israel safe," one source told me.

As an indicator of just how rapidly events are moving, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper will arrive here on Thursday and is scheduled to meet with Gantz

A few days before Gantz’s visit, the director general of the Ministry of Defense, Amir Eshel, went to the United States himself and joined Israeli teams already operating there who formulated all the clauses of the compensation package for Israel following the announcement of the possible sale of the F-35 to the Emirates.

Those who were in the negotiating rooms between Israel and the United States describe a very high commitment to Israel by their US counterparts.

Link

Europe

Dutch court to hold war crimes hearing against Benny Gantz on election day

2019-09-17

[Jpost] The District Court of the Hague will hold a hearing on Tuesday about whether a war crimes case against Benny Gantz

...retired IDF general who is currently head of the centrist Blue & White party, in this election Bibi Netanyahu’s closest rival. Oddly enough, B&W is supported by Barack Obama’s favourite strategist, Joel Benenson, who also guided Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign ...

is admissible relating to his command decisions during the 2014 Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
War.

Israeli soldiers and commanders may also be on the hot seat at The Hague before the International Criminal Court, but Tuesday’s hearing, which also happens to be Election Day, is a local Dutch court proceeding that is unrelated to that.

In fact, the ICC preliminary probe of Israel’s conduct of the 2014 war is moving slowly and is not expected to come to any conclusion earlier than December, with real progress possibly even farther off.

A statement about the case from the Paleostine Justice Campaign said that the case relates to Ismail Ziada and is against Gantz and former IDF Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel for allegedly killing six members of Ziada’s family.

Ziada is claiming that the IDF prosecution uses discriminatory practices against Paleostinians which prevent him from receiving justice in Israel.

According to the principle of universal jurisdiction, some countries, especially in Europe
Europe

...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
, allow prosecution of foreign officials for war crimes if the local state refuses to prosecute.
universal jurisdiction should be applied to the EUniks and pols
All prior attempts at using universal jurisdiction against Israeli officials - sometimes described as "lawfare" - have failed with European courts finding that they did not have jurisdiction for a variety of reasons, though some Israeli victories came only at the appeals level or from executive branch intervention.

According to reports, the IDF declined to prosecute anyone in the Ziada case because the civilians who were killed were legal collateral damage in a strike of a Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, war room in which multiple Hamas members were also killed.

The IDF’s general position is that it tried hard to limit civilian casualties by warning civilians to leave conflict areas, but that if Hamas embeds itself within civilian locations, the Hamas act of embedding makes those locations liable to attack - assuming the rules of proportionality are also met.

"The IDF is the most moral army in the world and I am proud to have served in it for almost 40 years and to have commanded it. As prime minister, I will continue to give my full support to the IDF in all arenas," Gantz said in response to the case.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel Outs a Senior Hezbollah Target, but Risks Igniting New Round of Violence

2017-10-29

[Haaretz] Publication of commander's name and picture looks like a signal his life may end soon. But can Israel really stop Iran from becoming a regional superpower?

What the Israeli army calls the "war between the wars" has undergone a radical change in recent months. The idea of the war between the wars was developed late last decade and involved the need to operate, even far beyond Israel’s borders, to contain enemy terrorist and guerrilla organizations in the hope that such steps would postpone the next war ‐ or at least weaken these groups when war did break out.

These operations usually were conducted with a "small signature": late-night bombings and ‐ at least according to foreign sources ‐ mysterious deaths that no one claimed the credit for. Former air force chief Amir Eshel told Haaretz in August that in recent years, Israel has operated almost 100 times to prevent the arming of enemy groups.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel Says it Hit Nearly '100 Hizbullah' Arms Convoys in 5 Years

2017-08-19

[AnNahar] Israel's military army has carried out nearly 100 strikes in the past five years on convoys carrying weapons to Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
and other krazed killer groups in Syria and elsewhere, an Israeli general said Thursday.

Former air force commander Amir Eshel told Haaretz newspaper that "since 2012, I'm talking about many dozens of strikes... the number is close to being three digits".

"An action could be an isolated thing, small and pinpointed, or it could be an intense week involving a great many elements," he said of the strikes.

Since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has maintained a policy of attacking arms convoys intended for Hizbullah, which is a key supporter of the Syrian regime and fought a devastating war against the Jewish state in 2006.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last year that Israel had "taken military action" against Iranian convoys leading weapons to Hizbullah "dozens and dozens of times".

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran has deployed S-300 system, minister says

2016-05-11

[IsraelTimes] Hossein Dehghan says Russian-made air defense batteries now in service, Tehran to start manufacturing similar system

Iran’s army is now fully equipped with a Russian air defense system after a long and controversial delivery process, Defense Minister General Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying Tuesday.

"I inform our people that... we are in possession of the strategic S-300 system" and that it "serves our air force’s counterattack command," Dehghan said, according to the ISNA news agency.

Israel didn't announce (and didn't need to announce) that its system for the S300 is operational, and has been for a while...

Parts of the system, including missile tubes and radar equipment, were displayed on April 17 during a military parade in southern Tehran.

The United States and Israel have criticized Russia for the sale of the S-300 system to the Islamic republic.

Tehran says it needs the system to strengthen its defense against possible attacks, including on its nuclear facilities. The Russian-made system is among the most advanced of its kind in the world, offering long-range protection against both airplanes and missiles.

I wonder if Israel made a deal with Putin so as to obtain the codes for the Iranian S-300s...

Israel has long sought to block the sale to Iran of the S-300 system, which analysts say could impede a potential strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. Other officials have expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
that the systems could eventually be delivered to Syria and Hezbollah, diluting Israel’s regional air supremacy.

The Israeli Air Force has trained for a scenario in which it would have to carry out strikes in Syria or Iran on facilities defended by the S-300 system. In an interview late last year, IAF commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel said the S-300 was a "significant but not insurmountable challenge" for the IAF.

"The power of our armed forces is not against our southern, northern, eastern and western neighbors," he said.

Iran and Russia originally signed a contract for its delivery in 2007, but in 2010 Moscow suspended the sale after the UN Security Council issued a resolution against Iran’s nuclear program. In 2010 Russia froze a deal to supply the system to Iran, linking the decision to UN sanctions instituted because of Tehran’s nuclear program. Putin lifted the suspension in July 2015, following Iran’s deal with six world powers that curbed its nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

In the last several months, there have been multiple reports in the Russian and Iranian press that delivery of the system was imminent or had been carried out.

Dehghan also announced Tuesday that Iran will start manufacturing this year an air defense system, Bavar 373, "capable of destroying cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft and ballistic missiles."

"This long-range system is able to destroy several targets at once," he added.

The two countries are also in talks for delivery to Iran of Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jets, a deal criticized by Washington.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IAF chief: We will attack Hezbollah, Hamas targets in civilian areas if necessary

2015-06-21

Israel Air Force chief Major-General Amir Eshel warned Hezbollah and Hamas in a recent interview with German newspaper Die Zeit that if the situation required, Israel would not hesitate to attack its military command centers situated in civilian buildings in Gaza or Lebanon.

"The strategy of these two organizations [Hezbollah and Hamas] is to wage war on Israel as a way to question our legitimacy," Eshel said, continuing, "so years ago they began to transfer military infrastructure to residential areas thereby turning the population into a human shield."
Time to introduce some ethics into the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli F-16I pilots use Greece's S-300 SAMs to prepare for potential Iran air strikes

2015-05-07

The Israeli AF Commander Maj Gen Amir Eshel visited the troops and flew at least one mission over Aegean Sea along with his Greek counterpart Lt Gen Christos Vaitsis.

Thanks to the exercise in Greece (not the first attended by the Israeli since the deterioration of their relations with Turkey), the Israeli Air Force has gathered important data about the Russian SAM system and had the opportunity to test and improve evasion tactics during simulated attacks against ground targets protected by S-300 batteries.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Boom.

Clever leveraging of an alliance.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Cabinet Authorizes Purchase Of 14 F-35 Fighter Jets

2014-12-01

[IsraelTimes] The Israeli cabinet authorized on Sunday the immediate purchase of 14 F-35A Lightning II fighter jets with the option of ordering 17 more in 2017.

The deal, which will cost upwards of $3 billion, was agreed by the US and Israel defense chiefs in late October, but required the ministers' approval.

Sunday's decision approves the purchase of 14 additional aircraft, with an option for 17, and will see a total of up to 50 F-35 warplanes procured by the IDF in the coming years.

Israel already ordered a first squadron of 19 F-35s in 2010 with a price-tag of $2.7 billion, funded by American military aid rebates.

The first planes are expected to arrive in Israel in December 2016.

Of the 14 aircraft whose purchase was approved Sunday, 13 are slated to become operational and one will be utilized for experimental purposes.

A decision to purchase the final 17 planes will require further rounds of cabinet debate.

Sunday's decision overcame stiff opposition from Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who claimed that the money could be put to better use and questioned the reliability of the F-35 weapons program, which has been bogged down by manufacturing glitches and other setbacks.

"Billions of shekels are being spent on this plane. It will impede and prevent us from strengthening our [overall defense capabilities] in the coming years," Steinitz told the website Israel Defense on Sunday.

"It will leave little room for us to purchase [other military equipment] such as APCs and more" he said, alluding to widespread criticism after seven Golani soldiers were killed when their outmoded APC was hit by an anti-tank missile in Gazoo during Operation Cast Lead in July.

Steinitz was not alone in casting doubt on the deal, which would consume nearly all of Israel's $3 billion annual US aid package. Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir, a former junior general in the air force, and Finance Minister Yair Lapid also reportedly spoke out against deal.

Lapid has called in the past for belt-tightening in the military as part of larger national austerity measures.

Among the arguments against the deal is that a multitude of enemy rockets that could target Israel's airfields means the country shouldn't rely too heavily on its combat aircraft.

Although the deal was lauded by Israel's Air Force, officials in the Defense Ministry argued that 33 F-35 aircraft alone will not suffice to enable Israel to maintain air superiority across the Middle East and face the growing challenges entailed in a nuclear Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Defense minister Moshe Ya'alon and Israeli Air Force Commander Amir Eshel both pushed for a contract to purchase the full set of 50 aircraft, enabling the IAF to field two operational F-35 squadrons of 24 planes apiece.

A senior officer in the IDF ground forces told Channel 2 in 2013 that with the money slated for the F-35s, the Defense Ministry could have bought 600 new tanks or hundreds of Iron Dome and Arrow interceptors, or generally used the funds to upgrade the entire ground force.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli air force chief: We may have to send planes to Iran tomorrow

2014-09-15

[Times of IS] Israel's air force commander gave an apparently unintended insight into his priorities and preoccupations, when he remarked during comments about the defense budget that Israel might need to send its attack planes to Tehran at very short notice.

Speaking about the imperative for the government to allocate additional funding to the armed forces, Israel Air Force chief Major-General Amir Eshel declared that "there's no one in this room who'd be prepared to ride in a car as old as our planes. I'm telling you, no-one. Yesterday these planes were in Gaza, and tomorrow we may send them to Tehran." The remarks were not delivered in the tone of a threat, but rather as a statement about a possible mission that would require up-to-date equipment.

Link

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