Month: July 2006

To Amir Peretz, the Rank Amateur Doing OJT On the Fly: Don’t Give Macho Threats Unless You’ve Got the Actions to Back ‘Em UP!

moshe

Peretz Says Israel Intends to ‘Break’ Hizbullah

Full Text;

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Thursday night that, “We expected Hizbullah to break the rules, and now we intend to break them.

“We do not mean for this event to end when the situation returns to how things were a few days ago,” he said.

Peretz’s comments came before his meeting with Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.

Commentary;

The macho threats get pretty digusting and laughable and demeaning when, again and again and again the actions don’t reach the level of macho rhetoric. And who says that the situation will speedily “return to how things were a few days ago?” MB read more

Katyusha, Kassam Blitz North and South Continue and Other War News…

moshe

Nahariya, Safed Sustain Another Katyusha Barrage

Hezbollah Renews Rocket Fire, Hits Residential Building in Safed

Safed Resident Killed in Katyusha Attack

IDF Ends Latest Incursion into Gaza, Killing Some 30 Gunmen

Three Kassams Land in West Negev; None Injured

IDF Forces Foil Infiltration Attempt on Northern Border

Katyushas Kit kibbutz Near Nahariya; None Injured

Damage to Electricity Grid in Tzefat Area

IDF: Over 700 [Katyusha] Rockets, Mortars Fired

Kassam Lands Near Kibbutz Be’eri; None Injured read more

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Truth, Reality and Definition of the Situation at Hand ….

moshe

Back to Reality, By Israel Harel

Excerpts;

“These are difficult days for Israel,” Ehud Olmert said yesterday of the fatal incidents in the north of the country.

But it is imperative, precisely at this difficult hour, to define exactly – insofar as is possible – what makes these days difficult. After all, only if we know how to define the situation correctly will be able to find ways of getting out of it.

  • Without admitting to the grave mistakes, both conceptual and operational, there is no chance that the government that is now seeking the support of the public will be able to put an end to these difficult days.
  • The “difficulty” of the times does not stem from the losses and the abductions over which our hearts break in grief…. When the “experts” and analysts seek the reasons for these events, they are looking for them merely under the light of the torch, in other words, in the form of micro-tactic failures – the soldier on lookout who did not look out at Kerem Shalom, the junior officer that prevented the tank from opening fire, the low-ranking commanders who did not get organized in time to give chase to the abductors, and so forth. They hardly pay attention to the more general reasons that facilitated the Hamas action in the south and the Hezbollah attack in the north.
  • And not without reason; after all, these “experts” were partners to the shortcomings on the part of the government, particularly over the past three years. And they were not mere partners; they enlisted – to a man almost, and without asking the questions they were obliged to ask in keeping with their professional and human responsibility – on behalf of irresponsible rulers, some of whom were even corrupt. And the responsibility is also shared by senior army officers who did not dare to voice their negative opinions against the moves that led to the loss of Israel’s deterrent capability and the feeling of victory of the terrorist organizations – in Israel, Lebanon and the entire Arab and Muslim realm.
  • The voice of the people of truth was not heard, not because they do not exist or because their theories are not well organized; they have disappeared because those who have failed but who continue to control the public dialogue do not permit the people of truth to remind the public who was right and who failed; they do not allow them to repeat the words of truth: You did not merely disengage from Gush Katif, but also from reality. And these then are the results.
    • read more

    Kidnapped Soldiers Identified …

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    UPDATE — Israel: Hezbollah Plans to Move Abducted IDF Soldiers to Iran

    Halutz: Kidnapped Soldiers are Alive

    Excerpts;

    IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz confirmed Thursday that the soldiers who had been kidnapped by Hizbullah a day before were still alive.

    The IDF released the names of the two soldiers on Thursday. According to the IDF Spokesperson, the two reserve are Ehud Goldwasser, 31, from Nahariya, and Eldad Regev, 26, from Kiryat Motzkin.

    The focus of the operation in Lebanon would be to restore Israel’s deterrent capability against those in Lebanon, referring to Hizbullah, who thought the IDF was irrelevant, he explained. read more

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    Israel’s Political Leaders Only Watched As Hizbullah Built Up, Military Mindset: IDF Action Won’t Solve, Futile Wait for Politicians, World Pressure on Lebanon … …

    moshe

    Amidror: ’Israel’s Gov’t Allowed Hizbullah to Build Up’

    Excerpts;

    Maj.-Gen. Yaakov Amidror formerly served as Deputy Chief of IDF Intelligence and the head of its Research and Assessment Department.

    “The Hizbullah attack was no surprise for the IDF,” Amidror told IsraelNationalRadio’s Alex Traiman and Baruch Gordon. “It was always understood that Hizbullah is preparing something against us; the only question was exactly what and when.”

    “Then why didn’t the IDF stop it?” Gordon asked. Amidror replied,
    “This is an important question. Ever since our retreat from Lebanon [in May 2000], Israel’s political decision-makers decided that Israel would not take the initiative anywhere on the Lebanese border. We were able to see, hear, and detect what Hizbullah was preparing, but we would not take the initiative against them. Because of the political arrangements with the international community, it was decided to let them shoot first – and the consequences are now very clear. If you don’t take the initiative, and you allow the enemy to shoot whenever and wherever he wants, then even if he fails 20 times, at the end he succeeds.”     read more

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    Israel Retaliates in Lebanon …

    moshe

    IDF Warns Civilians in South Beirut to Leave Homes

    Excerpts;

    Israel laid siege Thursday morning to Lebanon, shutting down the country and closing off access by air, land and sea.

    IDF navy missile ships were patrolling off the Lebanese coast and preventing ships from entering Lebanon or leaving. Any ships arriving at Lebanese shores were being turned back.

    Earlier on Thursday morning, Beirut International Airport was struck by an IAF air strike. IDF officers threatened they would bomb additional airports later in the day. read more

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    2 Front War: Kassam, Katyusha Blitz and Other War News …

    moshe

    Beirut International Airport Targeted by IAF

    IDF Warns Civilians in South Beirut to Leave Homes

    One Dead in Nahariya Katyusha Attack

    Excerpts;

    One woman was killed and 23 were wounded – one seriously – when four Hizbullah-fired Katyusha rockets landed in central Nahariya on Thursday morning. She was killed while sitting on her fifth-floor balcony Thursday morning. A rocket hit a floor above, cut through the ceiling and killed her.

    Magen David Adom reported that 15 people were treated for shrapnel wounds and seven for shock. read more

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    Nitzan: Former Gush Katif Residents Sitting Ducks in Plasterboard??

    moshe

    The Sounds of War, by Rachel Saperstein

    Excerpts;

    We sit in our plasterboard caravilla in Nitzan, the largest of the refugee camps for those expelled from Gush Katif. Nitzan lies between the coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. Last week, Ashkelon was hit by two Kassam rockets launched from the former communities of northern Gush Katif. One landed in a schoolyard, the other in an open space. Ashkelon is in turmoil. The southern city of Sderot has been bombed repeatedly. The kibbutzes and moshavs bordering Gaza are hit incessantly. read more

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    The Consequences of Showing Weakness, Empty Threats, Appeasement and Walking Away from Parts of Eretz Yisrael — Ehud Just Doesn’t Get It!

    moshe

    Update: 8 Soldiers Killed in North

    Hizballah Kills Seven Israeli Soldiers, Captures Two in Northern Border Attack

    Excerpts;

    The militant Shiite Muslim group Hizballah said Wednesday that it had captured two Israeli soldiers along the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israeli officials said seven more soldiers were killed during military operations in response to the attack. Israeli tanks and troops entered Lebanon soon after the abduction to search for the missing soldiers. At least three soldiers were killed in a blast involving one of the tanks, Israeli officials said. Katyusha rockets were being fired from Lebanon into Israel and residents of northern border towns were urged to seek cover in underground bomb shelters. read more

    Israeli Military Escalation in Offing After Hizbullah Attack …

    moshe


    ANALYSIS: Israel Prepares for Widespread Military Escalation, By Amos Harel     (Haaretz)

    Excerpts;

    On the 18th day since the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the picture has become all the more complex. From limited fighting on a single front (the Gaza Strip), the Israel Defense Forces is now approaching what might evolve into a near outright war on two fronts.

    This is the most complex crisis Israel has faced since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, when Israel successfully curbed Hezbollah’s bid to spark a confrontation on the northern border in response to the IDF occupation of West Bank cities. read more

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