Israel will seek to deal a crushing blow to Hamas's infrastructure in
Judea and Samaria following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers,
army radio reported on Monday.
Plans to move against the Islamist terrorist movement were discussed
at a meeting of the security cabinet convened by Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu at which ministers discussed punitive steps against Hamas
which Israel says is behind the kidnapping of three teenagers, media
reports said.
Following the meeting, which lasted around 90 minutes, political
sources said Israel would "attempt, in the coming hours and days, to try
and overthrow Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank," the radio's
political correspondent reported.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office.
It looks like we're digging in for a long operation. There are apparently very few clues as to where the three teens are being held (no one has suggested that they're no longer among the living, although God forbid that is certainly a possibility), and on Monday the Prime Minister warned that returning them could take time.
Netanyahu, however, warned the nation, that they might not see immediate results to the IDF's intense military operation to find the teens.
...
The premier also threatened to target anyone who attempts to harm Israeli citizens.
Netanyahu
said Israel's main concern at the moment was to locate the three
missing teenagers and deal with Hamas, whom he accuses of conducting the
abduction. The premier said "we must be prepared that this will take
time."
But he offered no news of the teens, who have been missing since late Thursday night.
Does this sound familiar?
Do you know why I posted the picture just above? This is from July 13, 2006 - the day after Hezbullah 'kidnapped' (probably killed on the spot) Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
Defense Minister Comrade Peretz told
the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that Hezbullah
will not be allowed to return to its former positions in Southern
Lebanon. YNet and the Jerusalem Post are both reporting that under a new
policy, any armed person coming within one kilometer of the Lebanese
border with Israel will be shot.
A
high-ranking IDF source said that the current operation, dubbed
Operation Just Reward, would be "long" and could last up to several
months, or "as long as it takes to destroy the Hizbullah's ability to
launch attacks against Israel."
The IDF source said the Dahiya
neighborhood of Beirut, a Hizbullah stronghold, would be targeted if
rocket attacks continued to hit Israeli cities.
The source said that all terrorists in Dahiya, including Hizbullah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah himself, were fair targets for the IDF. "We will operate against all the terrorists who operate against us," he said, warning that civilians inside Dahiya could also be hurt in a possible IDF strike. Nasrallah's family lived in the Dahiya neighborhood.
YNet points out:
A
special center of the operation is expected to be in the al-Dahiya
neighborhood in Beirut, where Nasrallah has established "a state inside a
state," and where he also lives with his family.
IDF officials
refused to say whether Nasrallah himself is being targeted, and settled
for a general statement about "an operation against all terrorists
wherever they are." Leaflets distributed in the neighborhood called on
the residents to leave the area ahead of a possible strike.
Eight years ago, two IDF soldiers were kidnapped by a terror organization. A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, and it became a war to 'destroy Hezbullah's ability to launch attacks on Israel.' It didn't turn out very well, did it?
Okay, one of the reasons that it didn't turn out very well is that the triumvirate of Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert, 'defense minister' AmirComrade Peretz and forgettable IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz didn't have the stomach for a ground war and attempted to destroy Hezbullah solely from the air. Will Netanyahu, Yaalon and Gantz be better? Maybe.
But the parallels are frightening. Yes, an operation against Hamas is long overdue. But that's completely independent of the fact that they kidnapped three teens.
Worst IDF chief of staff evah tells J Street he doesn't believe in red lines
Dan Halutz, who made the fateful decisions to fight the Second Lebanon War solely from the air and then not to go all out, and then dumped all of his stock holdings in the war's first hours, told a J Street press event on Monday that he doesn't believe in red lines.
I don’t believe in red line policies, because when you’re stating something at time 1, it might not be the same at time 2…when you are saying red line, you’re claiming you can draw a line based on what the other side is doing…for each and every thing that’s part of the redline, when it comes to the decision, someone will come up with an excuse. You still need a coalition.
So that's why he screwed up the Lebanon war so badly? He was waiting for a UN coalition to come bail us out? I think that - as we Orthodox Jews say - we need the explanations of Rashi and Tosafoth (Medieval commentators on the Talmud) to explain that statement.
Halutz’s point was that setting lines now that are supposed to bind policymakers in the future can prevent them from adapting if conditions on the ground change. Moreover, so called red lines may not actually trigger international action against because the states who are supposed to be bound by them may disagree about whether or not Iran has actually made the level of progress in question.
Now I understand why Halutz waited until after a cease fire was signed but before it went into effect to send ground troops into Lebanon six years ago... because once he made a decision it could not be changed....
The Lieutenant General also downplayed the risk that Israel would strike Iran unilaterally in the short term, saying that “I don’t think that anyone in Israel thinks we should attack immediately in spite of all the noises recently” but warning observers “not to underestimate” the IDF’s capability and willingness to attack. He also said he supports the Obama administration’s Iran policy, saying “diplomacy, sanctions, and stick on the table (military option) is the right approach” and that he believes President Obama “means what he’s saying” on his willingness to strike Iran. He added that sanctions “are working. There’s no doubt they are working. The question is how long it will take” to make Iran change its calculus.
The problem is that the President never said explicitly that he is willing to strike Iran. And as to the sanctions, they're working to slow down Iran's economy (and maybe not even for that much longer) but they have had no effect whatsoever on the nuclear program. But hey, we need to be flexible and not make decisions, eh Dan?
LATMA interviews 'Palestinian' Minister of Uncontrollable Rage on Iran and sings about Israel's prosecuting attorneys
LATMA interviews Tawil Fadiha, the 'Palestinian' Minister of Uncontrollable Rage on Iran (with English subtitles), and sings about Israel's prosecuting attorneys.
You either have to be an Israeli or have to have been following events here for six years or more to appreciate just how rich this is. Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz says that Iran is not an existential threat. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
"Iran does not pose an existential threat to Israel," former IDF Chief Dan Halutz said Friday. Halutz spoke at a strategy seminar held in Herzliya.
"Iran poses a serious threat to Israel, but there is difference between 'serious' and 'existential,'" he said. Halutz' current position on the matter stands in stark contrast to the one he held when he served as the chief of staff.
"We may find ourselves facing an existential threat if Iran continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions… it's the only existential threat I can perceive for Israel," he said in 2006.
In October of 2006 he reiterated his position, saying: "(Israel) cannot remain indifferent to Iran, it has a combination of radical ideology with an intense desire to obtain nuclear weapons and the desire to destroy Israel."
Halutz was the worst chief of staff the IDF has ever had, having no plan and no clue how to deal with the Second Lebanon War, which occurred on his watch. He was forced to resign in disgrace after the investigative committee report came out.
So why did he say Iran was an existential threat in 2006? Because Halutz is a flaming Leftist, and in 2006, the Left's line was the Obama line (you didn't think Obama ever had an original thought, did you?), which said that Israel had to give away our heartland to the 'Palestinians' so that we could concentrate on the existential threat from Iran.
Hopefully, no one is foolish enough to listen to Dan Halutz. He is a serial failure.
Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reports that Hezbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah is threatening that the next time there is a war between his organization and Israel, Hezbullah will hit Tel Aviv first, and not Israel's northern cities.
The Hezbollah strongman also addressed recent reports of foreign agents operating within the Lebanese terror organization. In a meeting with Hezbollah leaders, Nasrallah admitted that information passed to the CIA and Mossad by three of Hezbollah's members hurt the organization.
However, Hezbollah will be able to recover from the incident, he asserted, saying that the organization has the courage necessary to fix mistakes.
A month ago Hezbollah detained four of its own members on charges of spying for Israel while a fifth fled, the London-based daily Asharq Alawsat reported.
Let him start with Tel Aviv. Amir 'Comrade' Peretz is no longer the Defense Minister, Dan Halutz is no longer the IDF Chief of Staff, and Ehud K. Olmert is no longer Prime Minister. Hitting Tel Aviv first - even if (and hopefully) it is unsuccessful - will ensure the kind of response that Israel did not make to Hezbullah aggression five years ago, which will ensure a short war.
If you read the previous post, you already know that I spent Sunday at an amusement/water park with Mrs. Carl and the six youngest kids. For the record, that basically means that I was the driver and the custodian of our 'stuff.' There was one ride - maybe two - in the whole place that was suitable for adults. And neither Mrs. Carl nor I were going on it. Mrs. Carl went swimming with the two daughters, but I delegated taking the three little boys swimming to son # 2 (age 23). I thought it would be too cool for swimming and didn't particularly feel like going. No matter. In a closed amusement park in Israel, even the 7-year old was allowed to run around by himself. The lost children announcements all dealt with 2 and 3-year olds (really!).
In any event, because I was limited to Twitter on Sunday, I almost missed an important article in Haaretz which was blogged by Jonathan Tobin (those who read my Twitter feed may have seen this retweeted already - hint, hint). I have written many times on this blog that the rumor here in Israel was that the IDF never tried to rescue Gilad Shalit because his family was staunchly opposed to any rescue attempt fearing what happened to Nachshon Wachsman HY"D (May God Avenge his blood). Actually, as Tobin points out, it's worse than that. The IDF totally abdicated responsibility - and ought to have to answer for it.
But an article in today’s Haaretz offers at least a partial answer to a question many friends of Israel have been wondering about in the days since the announcement of the deal with Hamas to free Gilad Shalit: Why was the Israel Defense Forces unable to rescue him at any point during his more than five years of captivity?
According to Ronen Cohen, a recently retired colonel in Israel’s military intelligence, “The IDF never took responsibility for the soldier and did not even set up a team to deal with bringing him back. They simply passed it on to the Shin Bet [security service].”
Cohen said the IDF had “partial intelligence” about Shalit at one point but that this information ceased to be relevant in December 2008 when Operation Cast Lead — Israel’s counter-attack against Palestinian missile fire from Gaza — took place.
It should be specified that cracking Hamas’ Gaza stronghold is a challenge that would daunt any military strategist. The densely packed area is a warren of refugee housing that provides a plethora of places to hide weapons, personnel and captives. It is entirely possible if not likely any rescue operation would have resulted in Shalit’s death as well as the deaths of many of the soldiers sent to rescue him.
Nevertheless, the fact that the IDF never set up a unit or operational group specifically tasked with the Shalit problem is troubling. Perhaps the chain of command mandated that, as Cohen says, once Shalit was kidnapped he became the responsibility of the intelligence services. But the result of this failure to prepare or work on this critical situation was made clear when, as Cohen also points out, Israel failed to take advantage of the chaos in Gaza during Cast Lead to try to rescue Shalit.
Read the whole thing. The IDF would undoubtedly defend itself by placing the blame on the two previous chiefs of staff - Dan Halutz (2006-08) and Gabi Ashkenazi (2008-11). But that's not an answer. Did the IDF reevaluate the standing orders regarding Shalit when Halutz resigned? When Ashkenazi wasn't reappointed? If not, why not?
Why is Israel continuing to absorb rocket attacks from Gaza? Here's Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Israel Radio Sunday morning explaining why (sorry - Hebrew only but a summary in English follows).
Let's go to the videotape.
DM Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that restraint is strength and those wanting absolute quiet should move to Finland. DM Barak said Israel would act to bring down the Hamas regime in Gaza only when absolutely necessary because such action would require entering and retaking the Gaza Strip.
Remember Amir Peretz and Dan Halutz, the two failures who decided that Israel could drive Hezbullah out of southern Lebanon without putting a single soldier on the ground - until it was too late and the opportunity was lost? Ehud Barak sounds more and more like them every day.
In the meantime, if you don't like the missiles, move to Finland. What could go wrong?
One of the headlines in Saturday evening's news in Israel was a claim by a 'former IDF chief of staff' that Ron Arad's freedom could have been bought. Arad (pictured) was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, and while negotiations went on for his freedom for a couple of years, he has not been heard from since 1989. The 'former IDF chief of staff' was Dan Halutz, the failure who was chief of staff during the Second Lebanon War, who finally resigned way too late. It was Halutz who decided that the IDF could defeat Hezbullah without ground troops and then proceeded to veto the massive bombing campaign that would have been required to do that. Halutz has recently joined the Kadima party and has been making more public statements as a result.
Israel had the chance to buy the return of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, former IDF chief Dan Halutz said on Saturday.
"We had the opportunity to pay money in order to buy Arad's freedom but because of national considerations, we decided not to do it," Halutz said while speaking at a cultural event in Be'er Sheva.
Halutz made the reference to Arad in order to opine on the current predicament of freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was snatched by Gaza-militants in 2006 during a cross-border raid.
"Shalit's kidnapping occurred while I was IDF chief and I understand the frustration," Halutz said. "If it had been possible to do something immediately, we would have done it."
Really? Why would Halutz have sent ground troops into Gaza when he wasn't willing to send them into Lebanon when people believed that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were alive three weeks later?
Moreover, the implication of Halutz's statement is that we shouldn't miss the opportunity to free Gilad Shalit like we did with Arad more than twenty years ago. If the deal on the table was for us to pay in cash for Shalit's release, I would have a lot less problems with it. It's the part of about releasing 1,000-1,400 terrorists that has made a lot of Israelis say no. But $1 million in cash? I'd do that deal in a second. But Hamas isn't offering it.
Halutz to Winograd Commission: 'Nothing was accomplished'
In his testimony to the Winograd Commission, which was released this morning, former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz admitted that 'nothing was accomplished in last summer's war in Lebanon.'
Former chief of staff Halutz told the commission regarding the duration of the war that "33 days was longer than it should have been. Definitely."
"I am aware of it and I think that in the end the fact that nothing was accomplished was the most evident failure," Halutz said.
Halutz also criticized the government's restrained policy of containing Hezbollah, saying when he commanded the Air Force he became convinced it was a misguided policy.
"I can't bring anything now that supports this statement in a document, but in February or March 2006 during a deliberation I held with the General Staff, I said that once the new political leadership would become stable and stronger, I intend to approach it and recommend we reconsider the policy of containment," he said.
Unfortunately for Halutz and other IDF commanders, Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert and 'defense minister' AmirComrade Peretz attempted to scapegoat the IDF command for the war's failures:
Olmert pointed a finger at the military echelon, but was careful to distinguish between the soldiers, who were “outstanding”, and the commanders.
According to him, there was “something faulty in the commanding philosophy, in the commanding perception … they all proved their courage in battle … but something in the forces’ operational perception, something in the perception of control over the forces, wasn’t what we expected – and there is no doubt that was what caused the gap between our ability to achieve, and what we actually did achieve”.
And what was that 'something'? Olmert, apparently, couldn't put his finger on it.
Peretz claimed not to have known that the IDF was not prepared for a ground campaign:
"On July 12 (the first day of the war), I was not presented with a situation that the army had not trained enough or that there was any problem with the army's preparedness," Peretz said.
Olmert also claimed he knew that Hezbullah would bomb Israel's home front:
The prime minister continued to say that “we knew in advance that they (Hizbullah) would bomb our home-front targets and we could make only one decision - either we do not act at all or we act straight away. I think we had no other choice but to act immediately."
Olmert did not explain why - if that was the case - the government was so totally unprepared to find shelter for the north's residents, who were left to their own devices last summer. Olmert also managed to drop into his testimony that foreign minister TzipiFeigele Livni had taken an active part in planning the war. As Haaretz notes:
The prime minister stressed in his testimony that Foreign Minsiter Tzipi Livni was partner to all the important diplomatic discussions. "There were no decisions that were made [on that issue] ... without the foreign minister's participation.
In light of what already came out last week, I don't see anything earth-shattering here. But I have not yet read the transcripts. It could be that there is more to them than what we have seen in the first hour and a half or so after their release.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
