IDF calls up reserves for Egyptian and Syrian border duty
When I ran
this story, I didn't think it was such a big deal.
Drudge apparently thinks
it is (Hat Tip:
Sunlight).
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the request recently, enabling the IDF to summon up to 22 battalions for active duty for the second time in three years. Already, the army has called up six of them.
“This signifies that the IDF regards the Egyptian and Syrian borders as the potential source of a greater threat than in the past,” the former deputy chief of staff, Dan Harel, said on Wednesday night.
“The army needs a better ‘answer’ than in the past to the threat,” he said, citing Egypt’s deteriorating control over the Sinai, marked by an upsurge in Bedouin smuggling of weapons and other goods. He also spoke of the growing threat of terrorism from Sinai, as exemplified by an infiltration last August in which eight Israelis were killed.
The Syrian situation was also highly combustible, Harel said, “and it could explode at any moment… and pose a direct challenge to us.”
Maariv said the army had to decide whether to cancel training sessions for enlisted soldiers or to summon additional reserve units, and it chose the latter; canceling training would mean soldiers would not be prepared in the case of an all-out war.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Egyptian border breach, Syrian border breach
Hmmm....
Is the IDF
anticipating trouble?
The IDF has approved the call-up of 22 reserve battalions, including reserves soldiers who have already been called for active duty in the past three years, Maariv reports. Reservists may be sent for active service more than once in three years only with special authorization.
Commanders said the move was necessary due to security threats along the Egyptian and Syrian borders.
Or maybe this is just preparation for Naqba Day on the 14th of May. Hmmm.
Labels: Egyptian border breach, IDF reservists, Naqba day, Syrian border breach
Two million people to crash Israel's borders next Friday?
Hamas' website is reporting that some two million people will attempt to crash Israel's borders next Friday as part of the '
Global March to Jerusalem.'
The organizing committee of the Global March to Jerusalem expects the participation of more than two million people in the march which will be started from the surrounding countries of Palestine, the Palestinian territories, and some other capitals on March 30, 2012.
"Several international personalities and organizations will join the Global March to Jerusalem that will take place in Jordon and the other surrounding countries except Syria», said the GMJ's chief executive and coordinator Dr Ribhi Haloum in a press conference held on Tuesday evening .
Halloum added that the Prime Minister Awn Al-Khasawneh expressed satisfaction about the march's preparation as a peaceful and civilized march offering the government's help to the organizers.
The PM also said that the Israelis are worried about the march and that they phoned him several times to ask about the route the march will take. Another indication of the Israelis taking this march seriously is the formation of a mini-cabinet to deal with it, according to the PM.
For his part, the president of the national preparatory committee for the Global March to Jerusalem Abdullah Obeidat confirmed the Prime Minister Awn Al-Khasawneh's aid to the preparations efforts adding that this will be an annual activity to stress the necessity to end the occupation and free Jerusalem.
Representatives of the participating delegations will present their speeches in a festival which will be held on the same day with the attendance of about 500 guests from outside the Kingdom.
Israel Radio reported on Friday (2:00 news) that the London-based pan-Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awswat is reporting that Israel has warned neighboring countries that anyone breaching the border will be treated as an infiltrator. I'm not sure what that means, but presumably it means they'll be shot. Not that their being shot would bother the rulers of any of our neighbors.
Labels: Egyptian border breach, Lebanese border breach, Syrian border breach
Egyptian helicopter breached Israeli airspace
An Egyptian pilot flying a Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter breached Israel's border with Egypt on Sunday and
flew over the Negev region for 25 minutes before four IAF F-16's, which had been scrambled to meet the intruder, fired warning shots, scaring the helicopter back across the border.
The incident occurred at 5pm, when a mi-8 model helicopter crossed the Israeli-Egypt border near Eilat and continued to fly over the Negev. Four F-16 fighter jets were called up from Nevatim and Ovda airbases. The pilots attempted to contact the Egyptian pilot over the radio, but to no avail.
Only after the IAF jets fired warning shots, the pilot retracted his steps and returned to Egypt.
"The pilot was flying at a low speed, and didn’t respond over the radio," said an Air Force official, adding that the reasons behind his excursion were still unclear, but that all possibilities were being examined, including an intelligence gathering mission or an unintentional error.
The official added that the Air Force views this incident with the fullest gravity, noting that they have never encountered a similar situation.
That's because in the old days, we used to
shoot them down and ask questions later.
What was this guy up to? I'm going to guess he was freelancing and seeing if he could find anything out by flying over the Negev around sunset. But that's a guess and it could have been more sinister.
Labels: Egyptian border breach, Egyptian-Israeli border, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty
When I ran this story, I didn't think it was such a big deal.
