Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
‘The [Israeli] attack on Iran will be something that has never been seen in the Middle East.’ |
2024-10-08 |
[X] This statement from former Israeli Air Force General Amos Yadlin underscores just how high the stakes are as Israel prepares to respond to Iran’s latest provocations. When he says the response will be "something that has never been seen in the Middle East," it signals the unprecedented scale and precision of what may come. Israel, with one of the most advanced air forces and military capabilities in the world, is clearly ready to demonstrate its strength, especially against Iran’s escalating threats. Iran has continually acted as a destabilizing force in the region through proxy groups and direct attacks. For Israel, this isn’t just about retaliation; it’s about delivering a decisive response that will serve as a clear warning to those who believe they can threaten Israel’s sovereignty and safety without consequence. The international community should be aware of how serious the situation has become. As Israel prepares to act, allies like the U.S. should offer essential support, especially with intelligence and technological aid, but avoid direct involvement. Israel has the capability and resolve to carry out this operation and make it clear that any aggression will be met with unmatched strength. This upcoming response will likely redefine what deterrence looks like in the Middle East, sending a message that Israel will not stand by while its security is under threat. Related: Amos Yadlin 09/22/2024 Report: Hezbollah pagers were detonated individually; attackers knew who and where the target was Amos Yadlin 01/09/2024 IDF knows where Hamas leader is, but won’t strike at him because of hostages – reports Amos Yadlin 03/30/2021 Biden’s concern on Iran-China deal justified as it accelerates US decline: Shamkhani |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Report: Hezbollah pagers were detonated individually; attackers knew who and where the target was |
2024-09-22 |
[IsraelTimes] Each of the pagers that went kaboom!on their Hezbollah owners across Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... on Tuesday, injuring thousands of the terror group’s operatives, was individually detonated, with the attackers knowing who was being targeted, where he was, and whether others were in close proximity, Channel 12 claims. In a lengthy report quoting Israeli and foreign sources, the TV channel says those behind the attack were determined to ensure that only the person carrying the pager would be hurt by the blast. "Each pager had its own arrangements. That’s how it was possible to control who was hit and who wasn’t," it quotes an unnamed foreign security source saying. The report says: "They knew who he was with and where he was, so that the vegetable seller in the supermarket would not be hurt" when a pager went kaboom!on a man alongside him. This is a reference to footage from the pager explosions in which a man is apparently blown up by his pager next to a fruit and vegetable stand. The TV report adds several other new details to what has been uncovered so far regarding the unprecedented attack, which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel and Israel has not officially confirmed. It quotes an unnamed foreign security saying "tens of thousands of pagers" were produced, and manufactured with the knowledge that the client would check them carefully. Therefore, the pagers had to work properly and betray no indication that they had been primed with explosives. Their appearance and weight had to be unchanged. Interviewed in the report, Ronen Bergman, an investigative news hound for The New York Times ![]() ...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... and Yedioth Ahronoth, says the whole scheme was dreamed up by a brilliant female intelligence operative, aged less than 30, somewhere in the Middle East. Whoever was responsible, the report says, decided to set up a factory to build the devices from scratch — so that "it won’t be a device that we will tamper with; it will be a device that we will produce." The New York Times came to the same conclusion in a report on Thursday. The ability to supply the device to Hezbollah was helped by the fact that the terror group cannot make purchases on the open market, because of suppliers’ fears of US sanctions, and therefore must routinely work with intermediary suppliers. Channel 12’s report says that when, on October 10, the IDF and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had pressed for Israel to attack Hezbollah, rather than focus initially on Hamas ![]() after its October 7 invasion and massacre, "it is reasonable to assume" that buttons detonating these devices would have been pressed, and very heavy air strikes on Hezbollah would have followed. In the event, the IDF focused first on 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 Hamas with 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... , and Hezbollah has been pounding northern Israel ever since. The report, which was approved by the Israeli military censor, says Hezbollah bought more pagers after its military chief Fuad Shukr was killed in a targeted IDF strike in Beirut in July, and thereafter used pagers even more widely because of its growing wariness about using mobile phones. Hezbollah, the report says, long assumed that Israel would be a threat to its cellphone communications in the event of a major escalation, and thus widely integrated the use of pagers. While Channel 12 repeats the widely reported assessment that the pagers were detonated this week because of a fear that the Trojan Horse devices were about to be exposed by Hezbollah, it also quotes a foreign security source saying this was not the case, and that Israel decided it needed to step up its actions against Hezbollah. Amos Yadlin, a former IDF intelligence chief, says more broadly that Israel’s goal is to cause Hezbollah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> to realize that his attacks on the north "are costing him more than he’s gaining," including in terms of support within Lebanon. The report says it was regarded as "preferable" that the large number of Hezbollah fighters whose devices went kaboom!be badly injured rather than killed, in part because of the immense strain this placed on health services in Lebanon, and by extension the raised domestic pressure on Hezbollah. A foreign security source tells Channel 12 that the detonating pagers operation is by no means considered a strategic attack, and that Israel has much more dramatic capabilities. The source says Israel has spent years developing these far more extensive capabilities for use against Hezbollah and Iran, but not as regards to Hamas — apparently because it underestimated the danger posed by Hamas — and that this partly explains the failure to prevent the October 7 catastrophe. The capabilities used thus far in Lebanon are "relatively low-level," the source says. Eyal Hulata, a former National Security Adviser, tells Channel 12 after the report airs that thousands of Israelis have been working for years to create capabilities to ensure security for Israel. "There are more capabilities like these," he says, referencing the recent events in Lebanon. Given the collapse of public faith in the security establishment after the October 7 failure, it is important for Israelis to know this, says Hulata, who is also a former head of the Mossad’s technological branch. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
IDF knows where Hamas leader is, but won’t strike at him because of hostages – reports |
2024-01-09 |
[IsraelTimes] Multiple sources say Israel has identified Yahya Sinwar’s hiding place, but his use of Israeli human shields is keeping military from attacking Israel appears to know the exact location of Hamas ![]() military leader Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the 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 Hamas with 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 oppressionand disproportionate response... Strip and the criminal mastermind of the October 7 terror attacks, according to multiple reports. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... Sinwar has surrounded himself with a large number of living Israeli hostages, which is preventing the Israel Defense Forces from carrying out a strike on him, Israel Hayom reported Monday. It followed a similar statement on Kan public radio on Sunday by former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin. Jonathan Schanzer, vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC, tweeted that he had heard similar reports from "informed people" for weeks. "The reports coming out of Israel over the last two days echo what I have heard for a few weeks," he told The Times of Israel. "Namely, the Israelis have a good idea where Yahya Sinwar is hiding." "My assumption, although not confirmed, is that he is in the tunnels under Khan Younis," Schanzer continued. "But what I heard specifically is that he had surrounded himself with Israeli hostages. He is using them as human shields." The IDF did not respond to requests for comment. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Biden’s concern on Iran-China deal justified as it accelerates US decline: Shamkhani |
2021-03-30 |
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Ex-IDF commander voices alarm at intel-sharing included in Iran-China megadeal [IsraelTimes] Amos Yadlin, the former chief of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, expresses concern about a clause in the 25-year strategic cooperation mega-deal signed by Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate and China that includes a commitment to military cooperation, with joint training, research and intelligence sharing. The current head of the Institute for National Security Studies tells the Ynet news site that "on this issue, China is putting itself in a place that until today it had not been in before." "On a fundamental level, China opposes an Iranian nuclear bomb, but on the other hand, it is not helping stop Iran. Iran needs China’s political support to stop the United States from pressuring it," says Yadlin. "The Chinese understand that the Biden administration is not the Trump administration, and they can be much more aggressive." China is Iran’s leading trade partner and was one of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil before then-US president Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... reimposed sweeping unilateral sanctions in 2018 after abandoning a multilateral nuclear agreement with Tehran. Yadlin’s comments come after China and Iran signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on Saturday, a 25-year-long strategic agreement between the two countries to address economic issues in Iran amid crippling US sanctions. The New York Times ![]() ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported that China will invest some $400 billion in Iran in exchange for oil as part of the deal. The deal could undermine US leverage over Iran ahead of expected negotiations and lessen American influence in the Middle East. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Israeli cyber chief: Our water facilities were attacked, cyber winter is coming |
2020-05-28 |
[YNet] - Israel’s national cyber chief Thursday officially acknowledged the country had thwarted a major cyber attack last month against its water systems, an assault widely attributed to arch-enemy Iran, calling it a "synchronized and organized attack" aimed at disrupting key national infrastructure. ..."If the bad guys had succeeded in their plot we would now be facing, in the middle of the Corona crisis, very big damage to the civilian population and a lack of water and even worse than that," he added. ...Unna said the attempted hacking into Israel’s water systems marked the first time in modern history that "we can see something like this aiming to cause damage to real life and not to IT or data." Had Israel’s National Cyber Directorate not detected the attack in real-time, he said chlorine or other chemicals could have been mixed into the water source in the wrong proportions and resulted in a "harmful and disastrous" outcome. ...Iran hasn’t commented on the attempted hacking and has played down the alleged reprisal on May 9 against the Shahid Rajaee port. Mohammad Rastad, head of Iran’s port and marine agency, told the semiofficial ILNA news agency that the attack failed to infiltrate into the agency’s systems and only damaged "several private sector systems." Israel has not officially commented on the attack against Iran, but in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio, Amos Yadlin, a former head of military intelligence, said it was significant. "The attack displayed the cyber ability of a world-power. It appears that this was a clear Israeli message to Iran, don’t dare to touch civilian systems, the water and electricity systems in Israel, which were attacked this past month. You, the Iranians, are more vulnerable than we are," he said. Without discussing the attack directly, Unna said the past month marked a historic turning point in cyber warfare. "Cyber winter is coming and coming even faster than I suspected," he said. "We are just seeing the beginning." |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Ex-IDF intelligence chief Yadlin: I don’t buy that Iran is leaving Syria |
2020-05-07 |
[JPOST] Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate is not leaving Syria despite some reports to the contrary, former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said on Wednesday. Speaking to a media briefing hosted by MediaCentral, Yadlin, who currently is executive director of INSS, said, "the Iranians are not leaving. I am not buying this argument." Rather, he suggested that the forces led by Iran in Syria have always included a mix of actual Iranians and militias made up of local Syrians, Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiites, Paks and Afghans, and at most might see an adjustment in the mix. Questioned about why the IDF would put out a statement on Tuesday that Iran was reducing its presence in Syria if this is not true, Yadlin responded, "I didn’t hear the IDF. I heard a high-level source in the defense establishment. My suspicion is it came from above the IDF political level. When you go to the political level, you need to ask someone whose is an expert in politics." Pressed if he was referring to outgoing defense minister Naftali Bennett, the former IDF intelligence chief responded, "I think you connected the dots of who is leaving the defense ministry soon, and what is the legacy he wants to leave behind." Explaining why Iran will not leave Syria, he said that Syria is, "the only Arab country which supported Iran’s war with Iraq [in 1980-1988]. Ties between Iran and Syria are strong strategically. Iran sees Syria as the cornerstone of its regional policy." Continuing he said, "it was very important for Iran to keep the Syrian regime alive. In the words of Qasem Soleimani — protecting Tehran starts in Damascus." |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Iran has passed low uranium enrichment threshold for a nuke - Iran official |
2020-01-26 |
[Jpost] Actual nuke still requires decision to weaponize, deliver. Iran's Deputy Atomic Energy Organization Director Ali Asghar Zarean posted a surprising report on Saturday stating that it had passed 1,200 kg. of low level enriched uranium. The IAEA and a number of Iran-watch groups regard 1,000 kg.'s of low-enriched uranium as enough for a nuclear bomb, which means that if the announcement is not disinformation, it could be a major turning point. If true, the news could substantially accelerate the point at which Israel and the US might need to decide if they will intervene militarily before Iran ![]() spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan,the abbreviation IRGCis a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA),the term Supreme Guideis a cognate form of either Shahor Führeror maybe both, and they hate develops a nuclear weapon. There is still time for Israel and the US to deliberate, as to fire a nuclear missile, Iran would still need to decide to enrich the 1,200 kg. to 90% weaponized uranium and would need to develop a method to deliver the nuclear material ‐ something IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi has said could take another year. The announcement was shocking as the last update about the Islamic Theocratic Republic's uranium stock set it at under 400 kg. and less than two weeks ago Kochavi predicted that Tehran would not reach 1,300 kg. until the end of 2020. Other brass hats like former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin had predicted Iran would not reach this threshold until the summer or early fall. Even former IAEA official Olli Heinonen (now at the Stimson Center) had not predicted Iran would get to this point as fast, suggesting April might be the earliest. Prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran had roughly ten times as much uranium ‐ enough for 10 nuclear bombs ‐ but never enriched any uranium above the 20% level ‐ a medium level that it has not yet reached this time. Two sources The Jerusalem Post spoke to were unsure whether the announcement was accurate or a disinformation campaign. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
Trump Says He Does Not Believe Israelis Are Spying On The U.S. | |
2019-09-13 | |
[Jpost] Israeli officials are strongly denying allegations that Israel planted surveillance devices in the proximity of the White House. US President Donald Trump ![]() The Smartest Woman in the Worldin the general election... said on Thursday he does not believe Israel is spying on the United States after a published report said Israel was most likely behind cellphone surveillance devices found near the White House and elsewhere in Washington. Politico reported the miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as "StingRays," were discovered and that they were most likely linked to the Israelis. Israel has denied the report. Israeli officials are strongly denying allegations that Israel planted surveillance devices in the proximity of the White House and in other sensitive locations in Washington, as was reported by Politico on Thursday. "A blatant lie," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. "There is a longstanding commitment, and a directive from the Israeli government, not to engage in any intelligence operations in the US. This directive is strictly enforced without exception." Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who is also intelligence minister, also categorically denied the report. "Israel does not conduct any spying operation in the US," he said in a statement. "The US and Israel share a great deal of intelligence information and act together to prevent threats and to strengthen the security of both countries.” Israeli Officials Deny The Country Is Spying On Donald Trump - Report [Jpost] Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, the executive director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies and former head of IDF Military Intelligence claimed that "Nobody is going to invest intelligence resources in a country where you can make a phone call to its president. I regard this as fake news." According to Politico, a US government investigation concluded that Israel was behind several devices that were uncovered in the past two years, most likely aimed at spying on US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... , his closest circle and other government officials. The American paper added that the FBI and other agencies working on the case believe that Israel is to be blamed because of the high level of know-how and budget needed for the operation. "You can often, depending upon the tradecraft of the people who put them in place, figure out who's been accessing them to pull the data off the devices," a former senior US intelligence official told Politico. "It was pretty clear that the Israelis were responsible," another former senior intelligence official said. According to the paper, a number of so-called "StingRays" were found in DC. StingRays are phone trackers designed to track phones even when they are not being used to make a call. The report added that the Trump administration chose not to hold the Israeli government accountable. "The reaction... was very different than it would have been in the last administration," an official told Politico. "With the current administration, there are a different set of calculations in regard to addressing this."
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
The dangerous illusion of a two-state solution |
2019-03-03 |
![]() “Two states for two nations" is an excellent slogan. The left-wing keeps repeating it as a mantra that will one day bring enlightenment. In reality, however, it is the key to the agenda of the Blue and White party. So much efforts is being invested in making us believe there's real promise behind this plan, and that the long-anticipated peace is just waiting for us nay-sayers to go away so it can make its grand debut. But at the end of the day, the political plans written over the past few years by former military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and his friends promise us nothing but smoke and mirrors. The "two states for two nations" slogan reminds me of the moment a couple finally ties the knot (or in the case of Israelis and Paleostinians, get divorced) at the end of a rom-com. But while the movies cut away and leave us to imagine that the couple lives happily ever after, they never actually show us the reality of the day after. Well, the day after a two-states deal ‐at least according to those who advocate for Israel to seek a divorce from the Paleostinians‐would be a utopia with our security provided by an international mediating force, as if the world has ever shown Jews that they can count on it in times of need. Another thing that would happen on this magical day after is a fence that nobody would ever try to breach. Just look at Gazoo, and see how well it works there. We would also save so much money once we leave the West Bank ‐ even though evacuating the settlements would cost us a lot more. Because finally, we will have the promise that the Paleostinians will stay over there, while we are over here ‐ a theory that conveniently omits the fact that we would have be over there other day anyway, because they will never stop trying to be over here. Former GOC Central Command Gadi Shamni explained in a thorough report that if the potential Paleostinian state attacks Israel, we would retaliate, but since it’s a sovereign state that wouldn’t approve of our invasion, we would have to rely on an international force. Are there any volunteers for this task? Thus, at this point, as far as I'm concerned, the two-state solution would require the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. It's amazing how in a country that wouldn't demolish the homes of Death Eaters because of an excess of twisted morality, they are contemplating with such ease a mass evacuation of people from not only their homes but from their homeland as well. It’s not happening in any other country‐especially in 2019, in a world where a discourse on human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. is integral‐but here, we drink these ideas with our morning coffee. We are constantly being told about the price we are paying for the continuation of the conflict, but the potential price we would have to pay for a two-state solution is skillfully disguised. Nothing in this country is free, and before you buy two for a price of one, you should check whether it’s actually worth it. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Former intelligence chief: Iran is forming missile plants in Lebanon |
2018-10-22 |
[Ynet] Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, says Iran changed its strategy: instead of basing precision missile factories in Syria, they are transferring missile precision equipment to Hezbollah; Yadlin: 'If Israel doesn't do anything, the price will be paid in war.' The former head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin set down for an interview with Ynet Sunday and addressed Iran's transfer of GPS missile system to Hezbollah. According to Fox News, Iran has reportedly stepped up its shipments of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Leb. One of the shipments arrived in Leb last week, transporting GPS components to make unguided rockets into precision-guided missiles, thereby increasing the threat to Israel. In addition, according to the report, which cited American and Western intelligence sources, an Iranian cargo plane reportedly took off from the Tehran International Airport last Tuesday at 9:33am, flying to an unknown destination. It later arrived in Damascus and then continued to Beirut, where it landed just after 2pm, Fox News said, citing flight tracker software. Yadlin, head of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said in response to the report that "the Iranians were severely beaten on May 10. The IDF attacked about 50 targets in Syria where the Iranians were based, it took them some time, but according to my estimates, they changed strategy: instead of basing the precision missile factories in Syria, they decided to do it in Leb. "It is more problematic for Israel since Israel, to this day, has not attacked the Iranian consolidation in Leb or Hezbollah's weaponry, and now there are missile conversion factories. According to the report, these are statistical missiles that strike at a distance of several kilometers. This poses a very difficult dilemma for Israel," Yadlin explained. The cabinet's assessment is that if Israel deliberately attacks Hezbollah targets, we face an almost certain war? "This should be the working assumption, of course it will be necessary for the Israeli Intelligence Community to give an estimate of the chances of war, and whether there are courses of action that on the one hand achieve the goal and on the other hand do not escalate the situation and start a war. In Syria, the IDF learned how to formulate such a course of action that did not lead to war." Are we to expect Israeli attacks in Leb from now on? "Israel is facing two choices: first, to strike, not necessarily by air, there are other methods to harm Iran's establishment in Leb. Second, Israel can do what it has been doing for the past 12 years. Between 2006 and 2018, Israel did not act against Hezbollah's buildup, and therefore the organization is much stronger today than it was in 2006. This is a serious dilemma, which will be raised in the Security Cabinet meeting." Can Israel strategically allow Hezbollah to continue its military buildup? "If Israel does not do anything, Hassan Nasrallah's organization will turn its Order of battle of its statistical Missiles and rockets into precision missiles. The price will be paid in war." Do you think this is a mistake? Because we know their arsenal is very big. "True, their arsenal is large, but as long as they don't have precision missiles, it is a terrorist weapon factory‐ it cannot attack important our power centers Israel, intelligence bases, air force bases, the Kirya base, or power stations. Today Hezbollah can mostly strike innocent civilians, but damage to Israel's military can only be caused by precision missiles." Is this a change Israel will not accept? Yes, the prime minister and defense minister announced, both in Israel and abroad, that Israel will not accept this change. The transition from announcements, speeches and declarations to action is the most difficult part. We need to see where the government is heading. " |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||||
Unnamed US officials say Israel behind latest Syria strike, preparing for war with Iran | ||||
2018-05-02 | ||||
Three American officials on Tuesday told NBC news that Israel, using F-15 fighter jets, conducted the ![]() The unnamed US officials said Israel appears to be preparing for active conflict and is seeking American assistance, noting the recent visits to the US by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and trips to Israel by senior American officials. According to NBC, the target of the Sunday night strike was an incoming weapons shipment, including surface-to-air missiles, which were freshly delivered from Iran. Casualty counts from the attack have varied, but most put the corpse count at between 16 and 38, including many Iranians. Iran denied that any of its soldiers were killed in the attacks and that any of its bases in Syria were targeted. According to NBC, one unnamed senior US official said the Iran-Israel conflict is the most likely in the world to devolve into open festivities.
The base hit in the Sunday night airstrike was located south of the city of Hama in northwestern Syria and belonged to the Syrian army’s 47th Brigade, but has reportedly been used as a headquarters for Iranian troops for several years. American and Israeli officials have been monitoring as Iran has increased the number of transport planes that it sends from its Mehrabad Airport in Tehran to Syria. The US and Israeli officials fear that these planes are loaded with advanced munitions, which could potentially be used against Israel. The day before the strike, one such plane was spotted by a civilian skywatcher, using open-source flight tracking software, as it flew from Tehran toward an airfield in Hama.
An official from the coalition backing Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad told the New York Times ![]() ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... that the strike destroyed some 200 missiles. Former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said he believed they were surface-to-surface missile with heavy warheads ‐ a type of weapon Israeli officials have said that Iran might try to bring into Syria. Israel has refused to comment on the strike. Neither Syria nor Iran has publicly accused Israel of carrying it out, though many news outlets affiliated with them have pointed the finger at the Jewish state. Some have claimed that the United States or United Kingdom was behind the attack. An Israeli satellite company revealed the damage caused to the site. Aerial photographs showed that at least 13 buildings were hit in the strike on the Hama base.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... Iran would likely wait to do so until after May 6 parliamentary elections in neighboring Leb, where its ally Hezbollah is fielding candidates, the official said. | ||||
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
After a decade Israel admits: We bombed Syria nuclear reactor in 2007 |
2018-03-21 |
Israel was behind the 2007 destruction of a nuclear reactor that was being built in northeastern Syria, the IDF Military Censor has now cleared for publication. Until now, Israeli media have been blocked from publishing details of the reactor’s discovery and the decision- making process that led to its destruction ‐ even as many of those details were being published in the foreign press and in the memoirs of former president George W. Bush and vice president Dick Cheney. The Mossad confirmed the existence of the Syrian reactor in March 2007, when the agency obtained photographs of the reactor that was being built in the northeastern Deir al-Zor province, close to the Euphrates River. The pictures had been requested by the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, which had suspicions that Damascus was engaging in rogue nuclear activity. Military Intelligence had seen the structure being built during routine satellite scans of the country. Because it was built like a regular building, it was not immediately clear what the structure was. Then-head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin convinced Mossad chief Meir Dagan to send agents to obtain additional, conclusive intelligence. According to Amir Peretz, who was defense minister at the time, "We had the intelligence but then came the dilemmas," both military and diplomatic. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Peretz explained that in April 2007, he convened his first meeting on the facility with top Israeli officials, during which he made the decision to prepare all options to destroy the facility. In the months that followed, prime minister Ehud Olmert embarked on a diplomatic push to get Bush to attack the reactor. In July 2007, after Bush decided not to attack, Olmert convened his security cabinet, which ultimately concluded that the reactor had to be destroyed. "It was a threat that we couldn’t live with," one member of the security cabinet at the time told the Post. "Syria with nuclear weapons would have posed an existential threat to the State of Israel." Just like Iran nowadays ...Just before midnight on September 5, 2007, four F-15s and four F-16s took off for the al-Kibar facility. The planes entered Syrian airspace via Turkey, and sometime between 12:40 and 12:53 a.m., the pilots called out the operation’s codeword, "Arizona," signaling that some 17 tons of bombs had been dropped on the facility and it had been destroyed. |
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