A few years have passed since the Second Lebanon War ended. And now a field officer with the Islamic Resistance, named Mahdi, takes us back to those days. He along with his comrades carried out a heroic operation in the Maryamin Valley in Yater, when “Israeli” soldiers tried to advance and capture the town along with the surrounding hills. This is a highly strategic area and would have given the “Israelis” a vantage point over much of the southern coastline.
In the final days of the aggression, the enemy’s leadership launched a ground operation in a last-ditch effort to reach the Litani River. The maneuver followed a series of extensive failures to achieve any of their stated objectives in the war and repeated troop deployments into battle.
The enemy charted a course for their advance and planned to infiltrate the towns of Kafra and Yater. But it failed to reach these two towns after blows it was dealt in the Wadi al-Uyun area when it attempted to infiltrate the resistance lines to reach Srobbine and Beit Leif. It decided to reach them via the air through landings in large transport helicopters, thinking that the air would be safe.
Hajj Mahdi remembers the roar of the planes on the last Saturday of the aggression.
“We were deploying in the region as we knew that the enemy might resort to a new option in the confrontation, especially after failing to infiltrate the border in previous times, and after the defeats it suffered in Khyam and Wadi al-Hujayr,” Hajj Mahdi said.
The enemy violently shelled Yater on Saturday, August 12, and targeted a number of hills overlooking a geographical spot that the resistance perceived as a possible area for an airborne landing. The helicopters started landing soldiers on the site. The Chinook, or what the enemy called the Yas’ur was participating in the operation over the Maryamin Hill. A Mujahid from the air defense of the Islamic Resistance targeted it with a new missile the resistance called Waad [Promise]. The missile delivered a direct hit, causing the target to ignite, sending debris scattering through the sky. Then it fell to the ground with everyone on board.
Following the strike, terror spread within the ranks of the soldiers. Their leadership halted their operations, which had already taken effect. The leadership knew that the resistance was onto their plan.
“We were positioned at the site of the crash and the resistance groups peppered the area with a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and artillery. Fierce clashes with the Zionist soldiers who were on the ground ensued. Four hours after the operation, those soldiers attempted to pull the corpses and body parts of those on board, but to no avail,” Mahdi adds.
The enemy was concerned with pulling out the remains of their soldiers and evacuating the area where they had tasted hell thanks the resistance fighters. Thus, the enemy stopped the attack towards Yatar and its surroundings. With the end of the war on August 14, the Resistance gave the enemy 48 hours to retrieve the remains of their dead from the scene as well as other points where “Israeli” soldiers had been killed. As the deadline expired, the resistance fighters headed back to the crash site.
“I counted the place of 15 “Israeli” bodies in the vicinity of the wreckage. The body parts of one of the soldiers were still on one of the seats. It was also clear from the movement of some insects that there were body parts that the enemy deliberately buried in the soil. We extracted them and collected the equipment they left behind. Among the things we found was a military card of a Zionist soldier named Rose Abraham Mashih,” Hajj Mahdi says.
However, a quick search through the names of the dead the enemy admitted to, shows no Rose. Thus, this posed several questions.
“Is the name on the card a fictitious name and comes in the context of a precautionary measure adopted by the enemy so as not to reveal the true identity of its soldiers if captured or killed? Or did the enemy conceal the extent of its losses in that operation and did not give a real death toll, including Rose Mashih? Or did the body of Rose scatter when the missile struck the helicopter and the enemy did not find the truth about her fate until this day and did not announce her death because it did not attain her body?” Mahdi wonders.
“The last time we collected their body parts with burlap bags and sent them. But next time the enemy thinks of launching a war, the bags will not be enough,” Mahdi says as he returned the card to the same place he found it 13 years ago.
With a quick smile he continues, “The enemy did not have any superiority in the July 2006 aggression. It was characterized by failure and disappointment. How I wish they have continued the war and not stop it when the Maryamin aircraft was shot down.”
Ynet’s headline yesterday acknowledged what has been obvious to many Middle East commentators: Israel can’t win the next war. The most respected Israeli military correspondent Ron Ben Yishai’s headline reads as follows: “Why won’t we win the next war?” Though most of Ben Yishai’s Hebrew articles are reprinted in Ynet’s English edition, this article is yet to be translated and for obvious reasons. It is probably too upsetting for Diaspora Jews.
Ben Yishai’s rationale is clear and sound: Israel can’t deal with military casualties. Israeli security matters have been politicised. Field commanders are regularly subject to legal proceedings that lead to heavy penalties including suspensions. Consequently, many of them have lost their motivation. Israeli society is too sensitive to kidnappings and hijackings and finally, parents are too involved in IDF matters.
Ben Yishai concludes that Israel is too weak “whether it is a war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria or all of them, we will not win!”
Ben Yishai is honest enough to admit publicly that Israel’s enemies understand the psychological, spiritual, cultural and political fabric of Israeli society. They are aware of Israel’s weaknesses and the IDF’s paralysis and they act upon these. According to Ben Yishai, the Shiite axis, Hamas and the Salafi-Jihadists all understood that they “could not destroy Israel with one or two violent military moves, therefore they went on to wage a war of strategic attrition against us.” Any violent round or war whose results are inconclusive in favour of Israel, Ben Yishai says, are going to be seen as another nail in the Zionist’s coffin.
“They see the public hysteria over losses on our side. They notice the media frenzy that weakens the confidence of Israeli citizens, they see the national probing committees punishing Israeli commanders after each round of violence which leads to mistrust in the political class and its decision-making process.” Ben Yishai points out that Israel’s enemies seem to believe that when “Iran achieves a credible capability to threaten Israel with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles,” the Israeli society will collapse into itself. The Jews who seek a better life and are ‘spoiled enough’ to act upon it will be scattered over the world to look for a quieter and safer place under the sun.
None of these observations are new to me. Already in the 1980s, in the wake of the first Intifada, I heard Israeli generals admitting in the open that ‘for the Palestinians to win all they need is to survive.’ Palestinian analysts have been commenting for years that ‘Israel may have many lethal bombs but the Palestinians have one bomb, the demographic bomb.’ I have repeatedly argued in my writings that Israel hasn’t won a single war since 1967. Even when it won on the battlefield (like in 1973), it failed to achieve its military objectives. Bizarrely enough, Israel’s greatest military victory in 1967 inflicted on the country some political, strategic and demographic problems that have made the future survival of the Jewish State in its current form an unrealistic scenario. Like Ron Ben Yishai (yet way ahead of him), I have been arguing that Israel lives on borrowed time.
But Israel and the IDF are not alone. The American, British and French armies, alongside NATO in general, are also incapable of winning wars. The Soviet army was literally defeated in Afghanistan for the same reasons. Modern armies do not win wars, they are good in spreading collateral damage. It may even be possible that modern armies are not supposed to win wars. Their real task is to sustain the military-industrial complex by means of constant conflict.
A clash with Hamas, for instance, leads to a growing demand for the Israeli Iron Dome. Britain, America and France launch one criminal war after the other, they never win but they clearly sustain the production of killing machines. Russia actually won a war recently together with Iran. This translated immediately into weapon-buying.
But it goes further. Western armies are set to follow military objectives that are defined by democratically elected governments. In the post-political era, the entire political class is disturbingly dysfunctional and totally unique in its inability to produce educated decisions, let alone set military objectives.
President Trump’s belligerent rants against Syria, Iran and North Korea are perfect examples of the above. Trump threatens to launch wars as often as he changes his socks, but he never provides his generals with an adequate set of objectives. Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy weren’t any better. They didn’t manage to set the objectives for Libya’s invasion or any other criminal Neocon conflict they launched.
Interestingly enough, I allow myself to suggest that one of the only state leaders who is fully aware of the inability of modern armies to win wars is Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli PM is aware of the fact that his army is weak and the Israelis are even weaker. Unlike his predecessors, Netanyahu actually tries to avoid large-scale conflicts with Gaza, Syria or Hezbollah as much as he can. Netanyahu is not a ‘lover of peace’ or a ‘humanist.’ He is happy to deploy snipers against civilians and ‘lets them’ shoot kids who get too close to the border. Netanyahu sends drones to attack Iranian targets in Syria . But he is very careful not to pull the region into a total war. Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t really need Ron Ben Yishai, he gathered many years ago that the IDF and Israeli society can’t win wars. He is buying time instead.
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Israel partners with all US wars of aggression, notably against Syria, ruling regimes of both countries waging war on the country without declaring it.
What’s been ongoing since March 2011 is all about seeking regime change, wanting Syria colonized and exploited, Iran isolated, the same objective in play against its government — part of the US/NATO/Israeli aim for regional hegemony, the rule of law ignored, the human toll of no consequence.
Russian good faith efforts since 2012 for peace through Geneva, Astana, and Sochi talks failed because the US, Israel, and their imperial partners reject diplomatic conflict resolution.
It’s why US-led forever wars rage in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and elsewhere, no end of them in prospect.
Israel has been terror-bombing Syrian targets on the phony pretext of countering nonexistent Iranian and Hezbollah threats throughout much of the war.
The only threats the US, NATO, and Israel face are invented ones. Real ones don’t exist so they’re invented to unjustifiably justify naked aggression on nations and groups threatening no one.
Israel admitted launching hundreds of preemptive strikes on Syrian targets. Former IDF chief General Gadi Eisenhkot earlier said “(w)e struck thousands of targets (in Syria) without claiming responsibility or asking for credit.”
In response to two reported rockets from Syria striking illegally occupied Golan, falling harmlessly, Israeli warplanes terror-bombed Syrian targets pre-dawn Sunday.
Throughout the war, no evidence suggests Syrian forces ever targeted Israeli territory. Clearly they’d be nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Attacking Israel would escalate war Damascus is winning and wants ended. Clearly its forces had nothing to do with striking occupied Golan on June 1.
Most likely, US/Israeli supported terrorists were to blame for the incident, giving the Netanyahu regime a pretext for a terror-bombing attack even though it needs none to do whatever it pleases — with full US support and encouragement, with the UN and world community failing to hold it accountable.
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), on Sunday, “Syrian air defenses have confronted an Israeli attack targeted (on) sites in southwestern Damascus and Quneitra, a military source said,” adding:
“The aggression resulted in the martyrdom of three soldiers and the injury of seven others.” Reportedly most Israeli missiles were downed, some striking intended targets.
An IDF statement said Israeli warplanes and attack helicopters struck Syrian air defense, artillery positions, and “a number of observation and intelligence posts on the Golan Heights front.”
According to Israeli military-connected DEBKAfile, Israeli warplanes “struck Iranian-Hizballah concentrations (sic) near Damascus.
DF admitted that no combat operations were ongoing in the area from which rockets were launched at Golan, suggesting it was false flag attack, perhaps jointly US/Israeli planned to wrongfully blame Syrian forces.
The IDF claim about Syria attacking Israeli military targets is belied by no injuries or damage reported, two reported rockets falling harmlessly, likely in open areas.
If Syrian forces wanted to strike Israeli positions, why were only two rockets involved, why not multiple missiles able to hit targeted sites accurately.
The claim about a Syrian attack is clearly phony. The same goes for falsely blaming Damascus for CW incidents. No evidence throughout the war suggests its forces ever used these banned weapons.
Indisputable evidence proved US supported terrorists used them numerous times, nearly always falsely blamed on Damascus for what it had nothing to do with.
War launched by Obama, escalated by Trump, rages in its ninth year with no near-term prospect for resolution because Washington rejects it.
On May 20, nearly 400 bipartisan House and Senate members called on Trump to “(i)ncrease pressure on Iran and Russia with respect to activities in Syria…to counter Iran’s support for Hezbollah as well as Russia’s support for…Assad…”
They urged tougher (illegal) sanctions and other (hostile) actions on these countries and Hezbollah, claiming nonexistent threats.
They want endless war continued, not ended. So do Trump regime hardliners.
US aggression in Syria follows the same pattern as Afghanistan and Yemen, both wars ongoing since October 2001 — raging endlessly with no prospect for resolution any time soon.
بعد إعلان مستشار قائد الحرس الثوري الإيراني مرتضى قرباني: «انّ بوسع إيران أن تلقي بسفن أميركا الحربية إلى قاع البحر بطواقمها وطائراتها من خلال سلاحَيْن سريّيْن جديدين تمّ إنتاجهما… لو ارتكبت الإدارة الأميركية أيّ حماقة ضدّنا».
ولما كانت المعلومات المؤكدة لدينا بأنّ إيران تملك سلاحاً علمياً يعمي بصر «إسرائيل» وأميرك،ا تطرح الاسئلة الاستراتيجية نفسها من جديد:
ـ هل تحطمت أسلحة الحرب الإسرائيلية التقليدية التفوّقية التي قامت عليها الدولة العبرية!؟
ـ ماذا فعل حزب الله والفلسطينيون وسورية وإيران بالبنية الدفاعية الإسرائيلية بعد حروب الدفاع الاستراتيجي التي خاضوها ضدّ العدوان في العقود الثلاثة الاخيرة!؟
ـ ماذا يجري في أروقة وزارة الحرب الإسرائيلية وردهات مطابخ صنع القرار الصهيوني في اللآونة الأخيرة ونحن نقترب من هزيمة سيدهم الأميركي…!؟
على الرغم من تتابع مسلسل الفشل الذي مُنيت به المشاريع «الإسرائيلية»، المرتكزة او المعتمدة على التفوّق الجوي الإسرائيلي الى جانب الإمكانيات العسكرية الأخرى التي يتمتع بها الجيش الإسرائيلي، ومنذ زرع هذا الكيان حتى الآن، فإنّ مشاريع وحملات إسرائيل العسكريه سنة 1956 و 1967 و 1973 و 1978 و1982، والتي فشلت جميعها في القضاء على روح المقاومة لدى الجماهير العربية، والتي عجزت تماماً عن تصفية القضية الفلسطينية وفرض هيمنتها كوكيل للقوى الاستعمارية الغربية، على منطقة غرب آسيا بأكملها.
نقول إنه بالرغم من مسلسل الفشل هذا إلا أنّ «إسرائيل» لم تعلن يوماً، بشكل واضح لا مواربة فيه، عن فشل عقيدتها العسكرية المقتبسة عن النظرية العسكرية النازية الهتلرية – تلك النظرية التي كانت تنطلق من مبدأ الحرب الخاطفة المعتمدة على ثنائي الطائرة والدبابة، والتي طبّقها النظام النازي في اجتياحه لبولندا في أيلول 1939 ثم اجتياحه لفرنسا في شهر أيار 1940 وهجومه المباغت على الاتحاد السوفياتي في شهر حزيران 1941، حيث حقق نجاحات عسكرية سريعة ومبهرة، ل انّ الدولة العبرية التي اعتمدت في حروبها الاحتلالية والعدوانية ضدّنا على مبدأ التفوّق الجوي الآنف الذكر، مدعوماً بقوة الدبابة الاجتياحية منذ قيامها في حرب 1948 وحتى آخر معاركها ضدّنا، ظلت تكابر حتى جاء يوم الاثنين 3/9/2018 الذي يمكننا أن نسمّيه «يوم الإعلان عن سقوط هذه العقيدة» وعدم جدواها كما ورد على لسان وزير الحرب الإسرائيلي السابق، افيغدور ليبرمان، الذي أعلن وبعد نقاشات طويلة جداً في أوساط وزارة «الدفاع» الإسرائيلية دامت لسنوات، ما يلي :
أولاً: تمّ تشكيل سلاح جديد في الجيش الإسرائيلي يطلق عليه اسم: سلاح الصواريخ Missile corps على أن يلحق ميدانياً بسلاح المشاة في الجيش.
ثانياً: والسبب المعلن هو انّ التغيير الذي طرأ على طبيعة أعداء الدولة العبرية قد جعل التفوّق الجوي غير كاف للدفاع عن «إسرائيل» حيث اننا الجيش الإسرائيلي في مواجهة عدو، مثل حزب الله وحماس، في غاية المرونة وسريع الحركة والاختفاء ولا يقاتل من قواعد ثابتة يسهل على سلاح الجو المتفوّق تدميرها.
والدليل على ذلك والكلام للوزير ليبرمان اننا أطلقنا
اكثر من مائه وسبعين ألف قذيفة مدفعية وآلاف الغارات الجوية على لبنان ولم نتمكّن من إنهاء وجود حزب الله.
ثالثاً: أما السبب الثاني الذي يجعل إنشاء هذا السلاح ضرورياً وممكناً فهو توفر التكنولوجيا اللازمة لدى شركة الصناعات العسكرية الإسرائيلية لإنتاج ما يحتاجه الجيش من هذه الصواريخ المختلفة المديات، بالاضافة الى التطور الكبير الذي يشهده قطاع الاتصالات في الجيش، بما في ذلك إدخال أو دمج نظام إدارة المعارك وتنسيق النيران في الميدان، المسمى تزاياد Tzayad الى الخدمة في الجيش حديثاً. هذا النظام الذي يسمح لوحدات الجيش في ميدان المعركة ان ترى بعضها بعضاً، عبر شاشات الكمبيوتر، وان تحدّد مواقع العدو وتهاجمها عن بعد.
رابعاً: كما أعلن ليبرمان ايضاً انّ وزارته قد وقعت عقداً مع شركات الصناعات العسكرية الإسرائيلية لشراء صواريخ أرض أرض قادرة على ضرب أهداف على بعد حتى مائة وخمسين كيلومتراً. وانّ توريد هذه الصواريخ سيبدأ خلال بضعة أعوام.
في حين تشير معلومات خاصة إلى أنّ تسليم الدفعة الأولى من هذه الصواريخ، لوحدات سلاح الصواريخ الحديث المنشأ، سيبدأ أواخر سنة 2020.
خامساً: قامت أوساط وزارة الدفاع الإسرائيلية بتسريب معلومات، الى الصحافة الإسرائيلية، مفادها انّ وزارة الدفاع ستواصل اعتمادها على ما هو متوفر من المدفعية الصاروخية المسمّاة بالانجليزية Extended Range Artillery EXTRA ، والتي يبلغ ثمن الصاروخ الواحد منها ثلاثمائة ألف دولار، ويبلغ مداه 250 كيلومتراً.
علماً انّ هذا النوع من الذخيرة الصاروخية هو من صناعة شركات الصناعات العسكريه الإسرائيلي، وقد استخدمه الجيش الإسرائيلي سابقاً، في قصف أهداف للجيش السوري في الكسوة وغيرها من المواقع في أرياف دمشق الغربية والشمالية الغربية، والتي كان يتمّ إطلاقها من عربات أو راجمات صواريخ من طراز لينيكس Lynex.
كما انّ وزارة «الدفاع» الإسرائيلية قد باعت كلا من فيتنام وأذربيجان عدداً من وحدات هذا النوع من المدفعية سنة ٢٠١٣. وقد أكدت فيتنام شراءها عشرين راجمة صواريخ إسرائيلية من هذا الطراز في وقت لاحق لموعد تسلّمها، استخدمت كذلك في غاراتها الشهيرة الفاشلة على مطار دمشق الدولي…!
الخلاصة إذن إعلان مدوّ عن فشل سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي في تحقيق أيّ نجاح يُذكر، على مدى عقود من الزمن… ولكن إعلان ليبرمان عن إنشاء سلاح الصواريخ، الذي يأمل قادة الجيش الإسرائيلي في ان يسدّ عجز سلاح الجو عن تحقيق أهدافه، لن يمثل حلاً سحرياً كما يظنون للمأزق الاستراتيجي الإسرائيلي بنظر خبراء متابعين وذلك للأسباب التالية:
1 ـ انّ المهمة الأساسية لسلاح الجو كانت عبر التاريخ، وكما أوجدها او صاغها الجنرال الايطالي جوليو دوهيت سنة 1900، كانت تتمثل في نقل المعركة الى داخل عمق أراضي العدو وعدم حصرها في جبهات القتال على الحدود.
ولكن دور سلاح الجو قد بدأ بالتراجع مع نهايات الحرب العالمية الثانية حين بدأت الجيوش السوفياتية باستخدام راجمات صواريخ الكاتيوشا، التي كانت تسمّى أورغ ستالين في الغرب الأورغ هو آلة موسيقية متعدّدة الأنابيب ، على نطاق واسع ولَم تعد الطائره الألمانية قادرة على تأمين الحمايه للجنود الألمان على الأرض مما أدّى الى تتابع هزائمهم، انطلاقاً من ستالينغراد وحتى احتلال الجيوش السوفياتية لبرلين الواقعة على بعد آلاف الكيلومترات عن ستالينغراد.
2 ـ انّ ذلك يعني انّ الجيش الإسرائيلي واصل تطبيق نظريات عسكريه، أكل عليها الدهر وشرب وأصبحت عديمة الفعالية، خاصة بعد ظهور الثورة الفلسطينية والمقاومة الاسلامية اللبنانيةه لاحقاً واعتمادهما أسلوب حرب العصابات او الحرب المتحركة التي تحدّت جبروت سلاح الجو الإسرائيلي بنجاح.
3 ـ انّ الثورة الفلسطينية، في سبعينيات وبداية ثمانينيات القرن الماضي، والمقاومة اللبنانية بشكل أكبر منذ نشأتهما استطاعتا نقل المعركة الى داخل الكيان الإسرائيلي وبالتالي نجحتا في منع «إسرائيل» من تحقيق أيّ من أهدافها. رغم تفوّقها التسليحي الكبير.
4 ـ وعلى العكس مما يتمنّاه قادة الجيش الإسرائيلي، من انّ إنشاء سلاح الصواريخ الجديد هذا سيُحدِث ثورة في أداء الجيش الإسرائيلي، فإنّ الخبراء يجزمون بأنّ أيّ شيء من هذا لن يحدث كما نبشرهم بأنّ ما فشلت في تحقيقه طائراتهم لن تنجح في تحقيقه صواريخهم.
اذ انّ مأزق ما تبقّى من هيبة الجيش الذي لا يُقهر لا يتمثل في نوعية السلاح المستخدم من قبله وانما في انكشافه استراتيجيا وتكتيكيا..!
فعلى الصعيد الاستراتيجي هو جزء من المعسكر المهزوم في الصراع الدولي الجاري حاليا. بينما يفتقد داخل الكيان للعمق من الناحية التكتيكية العملياتية الأمر الذي جعل جبهته الداخلية جزءاً من الخط الأمامي المكشوف تماماً وعرضة لخسائر فادحة في أيّ حرب مع قوات حلف المقاومة التي تتمتع بعمق استراتيجي كبير جدا يسمح لها بالمناورة الفعّالة خلال العمليات العسكرية.
5 ـ انّ قيادة الجيش الإسرائيلي باتت عاجزة تماماً عن فهم استراتيجية حلف المقاومة وقواته، والمتمثلة في إعداد الخطط الهجومية وليس الدفاعية، ما يعني بأنّ المأزق الإسرائيلي لم يعد يتمثل في ضرب أهداف لقوات حلف المقاومة على بعد مئات الكيلومترات، وانما في كيفية مواجهة قوات المقاومة في الجليل الفلسطيني وفِي الضفة الغربية المحتلة واستحالة ذلك في ظلّ الانهيار المعنوي والنفسي والقنوط العام الذي يعاني منه الجنود الإسرائيليون، لا بل المجتمع الاستيطاني الإسرائيلي بأكمله.
وهذا يعني انّ سلاح الصواريخ الجديد الذي تقرّر إنشاؤه لن يكون أحسن حظاً من سلاح الجو الموجود منذ ما يزيد على سبعين عاماً والذي يمتلك أحدث الطائرات القتالية في العالم.
الامر الذي يؤكد لنا وللعالم أجمع حتمية سقوط ليس فقط العقيدة القتالية الإسرائيلية الجديدة ايضاً، بل وقرب زوال الكيان الإسرائيلي من أرض فلسطين في الأفق المنظور…
من يعتقد اننا نبالغ في الأمر فليعد قراءة التقارير والتحقيقات الإسرائيلية الداخلية التي تجمع على انّ خيارات المواجهة وتحقيق الانتصارات بدأت تضيق على ما تبقى من زعامات إسرائيلية ان بقي لهم زعامات اصلاً…!
Speculation over the White House’s “Middle East peace plan” continues to dominate media coverage of Israel and the Palestinians, the latest example coming with the announcement of a Bahrain-hosted “workshop” in June to encourage investment in the Palestinian economy. With the exception of the Gaza Strip, however – and then only partially and selectively – minimal attention is being […]
Saturday, March 30, marked the 43rd anniversary of Land Day for Palestinians throughout the Occupied Territories.
The anniversary is all about Palestinian resistance against Israeli theft of their land, displacing them for exclusive Jewish development and use.
It’s against the systematic transformation of historic Palestine into a state affording rights to Jews alone, Arabs treated like nonpersons, Israeli Arab citizens, 20% of the population, treated like fifth column threats.
March 30 was also the one-year anniversary of weekly Great March of Return demonstrations in Gaza against Israel’s illegal suffocating blockade, an act of war without declaring it.
Two million Gazans are held hostage by Israeli viciousness, the world community doing nothing to relieve their suffering, nothing to hold Israel accountable for high crimes too serious to ignore.
They include three premeditated wars of aggression on the Strip since December 2008, along with intermittent terror-bombings and cross-border incursions, civilians threatening no one harmed most.
On Saturday, Sabreen al-Najjar, mother of 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, commemorated her daughter’s murder at the hands of an Israeli sniper – an angel of mercy paramedic, a victim of Gaza’s killing fields.
Dressed in white attire, identifying her as a first responder medic, she was lethally shot in the neck and back, an exploding dum dum bullet destroying her heart, killing her instantly.
“My daughter…Razan…was (lethally) shot by an Israeli sniper while wearing her white uniform and trying to rescue those injured protesting for their rights,” said Sabreen, adding:
“During Razan’s short life, she was confined to a densely populated, prison-like strip of land, surrounded by Israeli blockades and walls.”
“She witnessed three Israeli military aggressions that wounded and killed thousands of innocent Palestinians. For her and for all Palestinians, the Great Return March is our cry for justice.”
“As we stand together peacefully, every weekend, for the rights and freedoms freely given to others without hesitation, it’s the obligation of the international community to act and stop supplying Israel with the weapons that it used to kill Razan and so many others like her.”
“I call on organizations and states to implement our Palestinian call for a military embargo against Israel so that we can live in freedom and peace.”
Gaza-based BDS community organizer Abulrahman Abunahel said “(f)or more than seven decades, Palestinian people have been struggling to return to their homes from which they were uprooted in the Nakba in 1948.”
“Israel denies us our right of return. On the first anniversary of the ongoing Great March of Return in Gaza, we reiterate the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions for Palestinian rights.”
“It is high time to fully isolate and prosecute the Israeli regime of settler-colonialism, occupation, and apartheid. The bloodshed in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine must be stopped.”
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli soldiers killed 266 Palestinians, injuring over 30,000 others since Great Gazan March of Return demonstrations began one year ago.
On Saturday, Israeli snipers killed four Palestinians, injuring 316 others, including 86 children and 29 women, said Gaza’s health ministry – many seriously during all Great March of Return protests, including yesterday’s.
Razan and two other Palestinian medics were killed, 665 others wounded, and 112 ambulances damaged, Gaza’s health ministry explained.
At least two clearly identified journalists by their attire were killed, dozens of others wearing press IDs injured.
Israeli soldiers and other security forces routinely attack peaceful Palestinian demonstrators throughout the Territories with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, toxic tear gas, and other repressive tactics.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned Israeli use of lethal force against peaceful protesters threatening no one – how its regimes confront all nonviolent demonstrations, falsely blaming Palestinians for high crimes committed against them.
Like ahead of all Great March of Return demonstrations, the IDF set up fortified positions on the Israeli side of the border, snipers positioned with orders to use live fire and other toughness against peaceful protesters.
Israeli media reported that the IDF deployed three brigades of combat troops and an artillery battalion along the Gaza border, along with 200 snipers.
PCHR: “According to observations by (its) fieldworkers (on the ground in Gaza), Israeli forces…stationed in prone positions and in military jeeps along the fence with Israel continued to use excessive force against the (peaceful) demonstrators by opening fire and firing teargas canisters at them.”
As in previous weeks, tens of thousands of Gazans turned out on Saturday, including entire families. Threatening no one, Israeli soldiers fired on them for target practice, gunning down or otherwise injuring hundreds.
Reporting on what happened on Saturday, the NYT featured a photo of a Palestinian demonstrator using a sling shot to hurl a likely stone in the direction of Israeli forces, safely behind barricades, too far away to be harmed – instead of showing IDF snipers gunning down Palestinians in cold blood.
The Times turned truth on its head, calling Saturday events “mostly peaceful” – entirely so by Palestinians, nothing of the kind by IDF soldiers, attacking them unrestrained.
The photo published by the Times was unrelated to Saturday protests, showing black smoke from burning tires.
Haaretz reported the following: “As part of understandings reached between Israel and the Palestinians through Egyptian mediation on Friday, Palestinians refrained from setting ablaze car tires at the protest sites.”
The Times (and other US media) falsely accused Gazans of hurling “dozens of homemade bombs” at Israeli soldiers. Nothing of the kind occurred. Demonstrators were entirely peaceful as during other Great March of Return protests.
The Times quoted IDF spokesman, Lt. Col Jonathan Conruus’ Big Lie, claiming “(i)t’s clear that Hamas controls the level of violence (sic),” adding:
“When they want less violence (sic), we see that they can keep people back from the fence. And when they want more violence (sic), they get more violence (sic).”
The Times lied saying “Israel made a point before Saturday of cautioning its soldiers against taking shots that might hit unintended targets.”
Fact: The Netanyahu regime and IDF consider civilians legitimate targets, including young children and women – 86 children and 29 women wounded by live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and toxic tear gas on Saturday.
Many thousands of Gazans have been protesting weekly and other times against their virtual incarceration in the world’s largest open-air prison.
Though unable to change things, their courage against a brutal occupier got worldwide attention. With nothing to lose, they’re unlikely to quit as long as their suffering continues.
“A FAIR survey of the phrase “renounce violence” in the New York Times over the past 10 years shows that 95 percent of the time the demand is made of Muslim organizations, people or political parties, the most prominent being the Taliban and Hamas.”
“There are zero instances of anyone in the Times — whether reporters quoting officials or columnists — from March 28, 2009, to March 28, 2019, insisting or suggesting that the United States, Israel or any white-majority country ‘renounce violence.’ ”
The above information should surprise no one. The self-styled newspaper of record and other establishment media operate as virtual imperial press agents – supporting US-led NATO and Israeli wars of aggression, along with their other hostile actions against targeted nations and people.
That’s what the scourge of imperialism is all about, establishment media acting as accomplices.
By Stephen Gowans March 31, 2019 Israel’s occupation, annexation, and plunder of Syria’s Golan recapitulates all that is repugnant about the Zionist state: its wars of aggression, land theft, ethnic cleansing, racism, quest for lebensraum, and contempt for international legal norms. It also shows that Israeli citizens, including the country’s Left, are not only complicit […]
Hardly a week goes by and the United States falls deeper into global disrepute. This week was a bonanza of own goals for the self-declared “leader of the free world”.
The debacle over the ridiculous “Russiagate” scandal finally imploding was spectacular.
Then there were more horrific reports of US air strikes killing civilians simultaneously in four countries – Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
That was followed by Washington’s ludicrous lecturing to Russia about the US-imposed humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
And then, to top all those own goals, we saw President Donald Trump declaring that Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights is not, in the warped US view, illegal after all. Can you possibly keep score of the mind-boggling inanities and insanities?
Switching metaphors for a moment – because you can hardly just use one when it comes to grappling with American asinine policy – Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova got it right when she likened the US to a “cowboy shooting up the Louvre museum” in its free-wheeling, double-dealing foreign conduct.
Where to begin in dissecting the US and its descent into madness and mafia-style foreign policy? It truly is a brain-wrecking, train-wrecking challenge. Is there a wicked genius to its Mephistophelean madness? Perhaps it is simply down to Washington becoming an absurd circus of incompetence, accelerated under the administration of a former real-estate magnate and reality TV star, President Donald J (for Joker) Trump.
On the Golan issue, Trump’s proclamation this week of recognizing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as under Israeli sovereignty is a flagrant subversion of international law and the United Nations Charter. Israel has been forcibly occupying Syrian southern territory since the 1967 Six Day War. It formally annexed the strategic plateau in 1981, which was ruled as illegal by the UN Security Council – including a vote from the US at that time.
Trump’s declaration is thus a brazen repudiation of international law and a glaring green light to aggression. Can anything this president says or does be taken seriously? What’s that about Venezuela, or Ukraine?
His declaration this week undermines gravely the foundation of international law in a shocking, reckless affront. It completely demolishes any pretense the US claims to have as a world leader and upholder of international law.
Washington has been slamming Russia for the past five years over alleged “annexation” of Crimea – and then Trump this week turns around and endorses Israeli theft of Syrian territory.
At a UN Security Council meeting called this week by Syria in protest to Trump’s proclamation, the US was seen as a pariah state. All 14 other members of the council (including non-permanent members) slammed the US policy on Golan. They included US allies Britain and France.
Outside the UNSC, other US allies also condemned Washington’s declaration of complicity in Israeli annexation of Golan.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, among others, all slammed the US for daring to legalize the theft of Syrian territory by Israel.
Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, put it aptly. He said that the US move was not only an audacious violation of international and the UN Charter. “This only exacerbates the situation in Syria and complicates the establishment of a political process, but it also creates serious obstacles to normalizing the relations between Israel and the Arab states.”
We will come back to that profound point in a moment. But first, let’s throw out a few other motives for Trump’s outrageous violation of international law regarding Golan and Israel’s annexation.
Trump is no doubt giving his family friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a timely electoral boost ahead of Israeli state elections scheduled for April 9.
There is also the issue of American oil interests being pursued by designating the Golan as Israeli territory. The mountainous region overlooking the Jordan Valley is reputed to hold untapped reserves on par with those of Saudi Arabia, which US-based Genie oil company has been exploring for years.
But still a more strategic motive is the objective of keeping the Middle East and Syria in particular in perpetual turmoil. By annexing Syrian territory, the US-Israeli move furthers the objective of controlling the wider Arab region.
Syria’s envoy to the UN, Bashar al Jaafari, made that very point at the UN Security Council meeting this week. He said the US-backed annexation of Golan was a part of the US-sponsored covert war against his country. The move is a way to keep Syria and the region in turmoil, said al Jaafari.
This gets back to what the Russian envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, said. The whole point is for Washington to prevent any political settlement to the eight-year war in Syria and to impede any normalization of relations in the region. The US and its client Israeli regime only stand to benefit from perpetual chaos and conflict in the region.
So far so good, as Washington may calculate – albeit fiendishly. But in the final analysis, the US is ending up looking like a complete rogue state without any respect, even among its supposed allies.
The presumed global leader, Washington, is losing foes and allies alike through its disgraceful duplicity and disregard for any pretense of probity. The Golan Heights is another nail in the coffin for Washington’s over-rated self-regard.
In a week of other American absurdities and own-goals, the Golan debacle may turn out to be the moment when Washington is finally seen in the eyes of the world as the utter laughing stock that it surely has become. It’s a laughing stock, but in the creepiest, macabre sense.
The Golan Heights, a tiny, rocky plateau that was part of Syria till 1967, is back in international headlines. On March 25th, 2019, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the disputed region, reversing decades of American policy. Trump’s move has drawn intense criticism from across the world. Member countries of the UN Security Council have refused to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights, which has been the centre of conflict between Israel and Syria for decades. The Arab countries have even warned of a new wave of tensions in the Middle East. But why is the international community, including US allies, opposed to the decision of recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights; And why did Donald Trump reverse his country’s decades-old policy on the disputed plateau? We try and understand today IN DEPTH. We also analyse why Golan Heights is so important and contentious.
Former Israeli Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally torpedoed plans to strike Gaza during a flareup between the Zionist entity and Palestinian resistance last November.
“Netanyahu personally torpedoed the plans,” the Chairman of Yisrael Beytenu told Israeli journalist Ben Caspit at the Maariv Security Conference on Wednesday.
“We have enough tools to deal with Gaza and I had a full plan,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Lieberman resigned from his post as defense minister in November following a ceasefire deal with Hamas after over 500 rockets were fired towards the southern occupied Palestinian territories.
The ceasefire with Hamas, he said at the time “cannot be interpreted in any way other than a capitulation to terrorism. This will severely harm our security in the long run. The response that we gave to the 500 rockets shot from Gaza was not enough, to say the least. The South should come first. Our weakness is being broadcast to other fronts.”
On Sunday, the latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip saw over 100 mortars and rockets fired towards occupied territories, and that, according to Lieberman, shows that “Israel does not have security.”
“Security is when people don’t have to run to bomb shelters,” he told Ben Caspit, adding that the Zionist regime “is paying protection money to terror groups instead of destroying it.”
“There’s no terror without money and now Israel is allowing money into Gaza for Hamas. We are paying protection to a terror organization and doing everything not to get the terror organization mad. Netanyahu said he said he struck Hamas hard, but not even one terrorist was even hurt,” the former Israeli DM added.
Donald Trump’s tweet this week, which sought to legitimize the 52-year-old “Israeli” occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights, is only the latest demonstration that US demands for compliance with international law do not encompass the country’s own policies.
“Israel” occupied the strategic plateau during the 1967 Six Day War and annexed the territory in 1981.
But according to UN Security Council resolutions, including one that the Americans co-authored themselves, the Golan Heights remains a part of Syrian territory.
As such, Trump’s endorsement of Tel Aviv’s claim to the Golan is essentially an empty gesture. It will not change the internationally recognized status of the Golan Heights, nor will it get other states to follow suit.
And while Trump’s “irresponsible” announcement drew condemnation from the standard-bearers of resistance to Washington’s agenda – Syria, Iran, Turkey and Russia – it is doubtful that the move will lead to any significant changes on the ground.
Instead, the US president is hoping that his message would reverberate throughout “Israel”, where the Trump administration’s key ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is fighting for his political survival.
Timing is everything
Trump’s tweet popped up as Netanyahu’s bid to secure reelection on April 9 was met with the specter of potential corruption charges, leading to a surge in the polls for his main rival and former army general, Benny Gantz.
It also comes just a few short days before Netanyahu is set to join Trump at the White House, leading to speculation that the US will officially endorse “Israeli” sovereignty over the occupied Golan as early as next week.
If this is indeed the case, such a declaration may very well hand Netanyahu another term in office.
The incumbent has long pushed for Washington’s seal of approval on the issue of the Golan Heights, and in recent months, he has stepped up his lobbying efforts.
Earlier in March, he toured the Golan with hawkish Republican Senator Lindsey Graham; in February, several members of the US Senate introduced legislation to sanction “Israeli” sovereignty over the mountainous area.
A favorable declaration from the White House just three weeks before “Israelis” head to the polls would certainly mark a symbolic victory for Netanyahu’s foreign-policy agenda, which already enjoys consistent support from the Trump administration.
Since coming into office, Trump has pulled his country out of the Iran nuclear deal, relocated the US Embassy to al-Quds (Jerusalem) and closed a Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington.
But “Israel” is still a chapter in the broader tussle for power and influence between Western political elites, and Netanyahu is far from being the only one doing the lobbying.
Benny Gantz, who heads “Israel’s” recently formed Blue and White political alliance, is also heading to the US this month to address the annual conference of the powerful Jewish lobbying group, AIPAC (American ‘Israel’ Public Affairs Committee).
Netanyahu’s most prominent opponent is hoping to make nice with America’s left-wing figures, and of course, those pushing to unseat Trump.
Naturally, Trump’s Golan move will make it more difficult for Gantz to sell his message in “Israel”, where he is arguing that the next government needs to ‘regain the full support’ of Washington.
What’s more, the gifts bestowed upon Netanyahu by the White House have made it virtually impossible for Gantz to challenge the “Israeli” premier on foreign policy, especially as the leader of the Blue and White alliance has been led to exclaim that when it comes to ‘Israel’s’ external foes, “there is no right or left”.
No downside for Trump
From the point of view of the current US administration, there appears to be little to lose by recognizing “Israel’s” sovereignty over the Golan and handing Netanyahu his pre-election prize.
Trump himself has become quite accustomed to delivering shocks to international consensus, especially when it comes to issues pertaining to “Israel”. The American president therefore isn’t expecting any real opposition to the Golan move from any of his Western client states.
Condemnation coming from the Arabs will also be muted, or, at the very least, disingenuous. Gulf monarchies are not only invested in Trump’s political future, but have a major stake in Netanyahu’s, too.
In fact, the recent deployment of the most advanced American air and missile system to “Israel” signals that only Iran and Hezbollah are still perceived as real threats by Tel Aviv and Washington. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is being touted as Washington’s commitment to ‘Israeli’ security.
Viewed in a more focused geopolitical context, however, such measures have everything to do with the fact that the “Israeli” occupation of the Golan Heights and other Arab territories illegally held for decades has very few challengers left.
And both Trump and Netanyahu are well aware that one would be hard pressed nowadays to find any outside of the Iran-led Resistance Axis.
– يمكن تفهّم المواقف الصادرة عن حركتي حماس والجهاد الإسلامي التي تذهب أبعد من نفي مسؤوليتها عن الصواريخ التي استهدفت تل أبيب ليل أمس، وذهاب بعض مسؤولي الحركتين إلى حد اعتبار الصواريخ عملاً يهدف لجر قطاع غزة وقوى المقاومة إلى مواجهة يظن البعض أن رئيس حكومة الاحتلال بنيامين نتنياهو يحتاج جولة تصعيد يصرف رصيدها انتخابياً، لكن التدقيق في مدى قدرة نتنياهو على توظيف الصواريخ وأي جولة تصعيد تليها، يطرح سؤالاً جدياً عن مدى قدرة كيان الاحتلال على الدخول في مواجهة ستنتهي حكماً قبل موعد الانتخابات، دون أن تكون النهاية مريحة لنتنياهو وفقاً لما تقوله موازين القوى، من جهة، ومن جهة مقابلة، مدى قدرة قوى المقاومة على الامتناع عن ردود قاسية في أي مواجهة، ومدى قدرتها على تفادي استهداف تل أبيب بعد ما مثلته الصواريخ، وفي النهاية مدى قدرتها على تقديم تنازلات من هيبتها ومن حساب معادلات الردع لمنح نتنياهو وجيش الاحتلال سلّماً للنزول عن الشجرة.
– الأكيد، رغم كل المواقف والتحليلات، أن شيئاً نوعياً كبيراً حدث ليل أمس، هو حدث نوعي كبير وغير مسبوق أياً كانت الجهة التي تقف وراءه، سواء أعلنت مسؤوليتها أو أغفلت ذلك أو ربما رأت أن الأفضل هو نفي المسؤولية، ففي كل الحالات الحدث مفاجئ للجميع ويمثل تحولاً في قواعد الاشتباك مع كيان الاحتلال منذ قيامه قبل سبعين عاماً، ففي كل الحروب التي مضت عام 1947 وعام 1956 وعام 1967 وعام 1973 وأعوام ما بين 1982 و2000 وصولاً إلى حرب عام 2006، لم يسقط صاروخ على تل أبيب، وبقيت تل أبيب حصناً محمياً بعيداً عن التهديد، وإن تمّ تهديد تل أبيب فقد بدا أنه تهديد عابر، أو أن كيان الاحتلال قد تمكّن من احتوائه وإلغاء فرص تكراره بخلق واقع عسكري جديد في الجغرافيا التي شكلت مصدر هذا التهديد، سواء في مصر جمال عبد الناصر أو في العراق أو في سورية، بينما يقف كيان الاحتلال أمام حقيقة جديدة، فهو مضطر للاعتراف بأن استهداف تل ابيب سيصير مشهداً مألوفاً في أي مواجهة تخوضها حكومة الاحتلال مع أي من أطراف محور المقاومة. فالصواريخ التي تطال تل أبيب موجودة، وقادرة، والقبة الحديدة عاجزة عن منعها، وما يملكه الذين هم أقل يملكه الذين هم أكثر، وما يستطيع فعله أطراف غير رئيسية في غزة تستطيعه الأطراف الرئيسية، كما تستطيعه المقاومة في لبنان ويستيطعه الجيش السوري وقوى الحشد الشعبي في العراق وبالتأكيد تستطيعه إيران.
– هذه صورة رمزية تلتقطها الكاميرات الإسرائيلية لما سيكون عليه التحدّي مع أي مواجهة مقبلة، فبعدما كان استهداف تل أبيب نظرياً كفرضية قابلة للتأكيد، صار واقعاً، قابلاً للتكرار، ومثلما قال رئيس لجنة الاستخبارات الوطنية الأميركية دان كوتس أمام مجلس الشيوخ، التصعيد الإسرائيلي في ظل توازنات هشّة وغياب سقوف سياسية سيجلب خطر الانزلاق إلى مفاجآت تصعب السيطرة عليها، والذين يتحدثون عن مصالح إسرائيلية بالتصعيد أو الذين يقولون إن نتنياهو يحتاج إلى جولة تصعيد يتجاهلون أنه كان قبل شهور يصول ويجول في الغارات على سورية وقد توقف عنها، ويتجاهلون أن كل حرب أو نصف حرب تحتاج إلى استراتيجية خروج، فنتنياهو يملك قرار بدء الحرب، لكنه لا يملك خريطة طريق واضحة لإنهائها، وحماس والجهاد والفصائل يملكون قدرة التبرؤ وحتى الإدانة للصواريخ، لكنهم لا يملكون الصمت والتفرج إذا بدأت الحرب، وبعد ظهور الصواريخ على تل أبيب، لن يكون مقبولاً أن تقع المجازر وتبقى الصواريخ المشابهة في المستودعات!
– بالنسبة لأجيال عربية عاشت مراحل الانكسارات، وعاشت مع المقاومة زمن الانتصارات، تحقق ليل أمس حلم عتيق، يدخل الفرحة إلى القلوب بعيداً عن التحليلات، إن تجرّع نتنياهو ذل الصواريخ تحقق ميزان ردع جديد، وإن ردّ بحرب أجبر مالكي الصواريخ الأشدّ قدرة على إخراجها من المستودعات.
Zionist experts revealed that the occupation entity is not ready to confront the rocketry threat on the northern front which “would be the most dangerous one”.
Dan Rogel, an engineer at Rafael Israel Military Industries, clarified although some consider that Gaza front is the most volatile, the northern one proves to be most dangerous one.
Rogel added that ‘Israel’ will be obliged to fire over 1400 interceptor missiles per day during the upcoming war, which costs the Zionist entity $1.5 billion.
Rogel wondered how much the financial cost of the war would be in case it lasts for more than 30 days.
Al-Ahed News Website reveals secret chapters of one of the Islamic Resistance’s great achievements, which has remained concealed for years.
The story of the final moments of the commander of the Zionist forces in Lebanon, Erez Gerstein, who was executed by the Islamic Resistance in a qualitative operation on February 28, 1999, is told by those who lived it minute by minute.
The Al-Ahed newspaper unveiled one of the chapters of the secret war that took place during the Zionist occupation of Lebanon. The following is the first episode. The other episodes will follow in the coming days.
Erez Gerstein: Identification Card
Brigadier General Erez Gerstein was one of the most prominent Zionist military commanders “and one of the best commanders in the field”, specializing in topography. He was the top “Israeli” military official in Lebanon.
He participated in many acts of aggression against Lebanon. In 1982, he was the assistant to the then War Minister Ariel Sharon. He believed that the naval commandos were not a sufficient challenge for him.
Ariel Sharon, right, and Menachem Begin, center, at Beaufort after its capture
He repeatedly raided Nabatiyeh and the Beaufort Castle [Arnoun Castle]. He took part in the Battle of Beaufort, in addition to his raids on the tunnels of Naameh.
He rose through the ranks. He was the commander of “Sirt Golani” that is the Special Forces and then commander of the Golani Brigade. In March 1998, he was appointed successor to Brigadier General Eli Amitai in heading the Southern Command of the Armed Forces (the commander of the liaison unit).
Two months after assuming the post of commander of the Golani Brigade, his brigade suffered a severe blow. Seven soldiers were killed at the Aishiyeh site. At the end of his service at this post, five of his soldiers were also killed in Wadi Saluki.
His car was hit by an improvised explosive device near the village of Al-Rihan. He miraculously survived. But on Sunday evening, 28 February 1999, he did not survive a larger explosion that blew up his armored vehicle. Three others, including an ‘Israeli’ radio reporter were also killed. The Islamic Resistance prepared the explosive device at the al-Khan-Kawkab junction.
““Israel’s” hand is long. We will bring any fugitive back wherever he is. And we will behead him sooner or later. Soon, we will carry the heads of the traitors with our hands. We are a state that does not abandon its vengeance even years later.”
These were the final words of Erez Gerstein, the commander of the liaison unit in Lebanon and the top military man of the “Israeli” forces occupying southern Lebanon, who was speaking to a group of “Israeli”-affiliated militias in the town of Shebaa.
– End of Introduction –
This happened on the last day of the cold month of February. It was a warm morning unlike regular winter mornings. News of his arrival was widely disseminated moments before his convoy of three civilian bulletproofed armored vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns entered the town. The motorcade emerged from the heart of the dust storm. The sun was setting when the general got out of his dark-curtained car and entered a neighboring building to pay his respects to the wife of a fallen militia security agent and pay the price for his death. The widow was paid USD 50,000 within less than five minutes.
The general left the dead agent’s house and waited in the middle of the road.
“I carefully observed him after everyone was in my line of vision. His facial features shone under the shy winter sunlight. He was rudely moving amidst the soldiers, as if he had something he wanted to say quickly,” Malik sighs as he tells the story of his last meeting with Erez Gerstein.
“I sank a little bit into the noise under my balcony. And I began observing him carefully. I saw him chase a flying insect with the corner of his eye and stomp the dirt with his shoe to search for another one crawling. He did not want to miss out on anything. Then, he turned his head. His eyes ran across the hills of Kfar Shuba and Shebaa, as if he was redrawing the map of the deployment of the “Israeli” forces in that region. The region was the other side of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. He was doing so as the top “Israeli” army topographer in Lebanon. This is aside from his passion for insects.”
“With the corner of his other eye, I saw him looking down on my superior in the 504 “Israeli” intelligence unit, who in turn had his head down. It was in contrast to the picture that led me to accompany him in his work, where he would meet senior “Israeli” officers and take instructions from them directly without humiliation. They trusted him. They were so concerned about him that they insisted on getting to know me since I was his personal bodyguard. This coincided with Erez Gerstein taking up his new post in Lebanon. The eyes of my superior did not meet the general’s. Boredom was obvious on his face. And he seemed to stand there for too long when compared to his constant movement on the field. He was only used to standing in the battlefields in the face of elements of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. He participated in the invasion of Beirut when he helped Sharon in 1982. He took part in besieging the city of Beirut. He used to watch the fire raging during the night from atop the overlooking hills. He also took part in the Battle of Beaufort. He used to boast that he entered the town despite the forces that defended the castle until the last breath. He raided Nabatiyeh and Arnoun, etc. While I was going through these pictures in my head, the loud voice of a security officer of the agents’ militia Riyad al-Hamra brought me back to where I was standing: ‘Malik, the general wants to speak to the men. It is unreasonable for him to stay on the street. Open your house for us for just five minutes.’”
“The blood in my veins froze due to the shock that came over me. ‘In my house, me, what blind trust.’ I said to myself, I could not say a single word. The whole group walked toward the stairs while I was taking my little family, my wife and child, upstairs to where my parents lived. I opened the doors widely for the arrivals, including twenty military personnel working in the “Israeli” intelligence and security officers with stars on their shoulders, which I’ve come accustomed to seeing recently. I looked for Doron’s face among the crowd. He was the first “Israeli” intelligence officer I met in the Metula settlement before handing over his post to his successor, Abu al-Nimr. Doron was not among those who entered my small house. Gerstein did not forgive those with even a single security failure. The issue of double agent Raja Ward fleeing the occupation’s authority has not been closed yet! I have never seen a fat person like Abu Nimr, an “Israeli” officer whose eloquence in Arabic and broad memory of Arab proverbs I will never forget. The leaders that passed before me were not higher than the general’s rank. His body touched mine. He did not pay attention to my surprised and confused breathing. He trusted me. He threw his pouch indifferently at my porch as proof of his confidence in the security measures as well as being in my house.”
Malik, who is recalling the details of the last 30 minutes in the life of Erez Gerstein, added: “He entered and sat here on this chair. Next to him was Rafiq al-Saeed, the Zionist general who was responsible for the so-called civil administration in the eastern sector. On his other side was “Israel’s” radio reporter and military spokesperson in the region Ilan Roeh. He was preparing the recorder for him [Gerstein] on this table as if he was documenting the history of this senior officer who was qualified to hold very high-ranking positions in the “Israeli” army.” Here (gesturing with his hand) sat Munir al-Shawfi, the operations officer of the 30th Regiment.”
“Before the rest of the crowd rested from the tour, Nadeem Abu Rafie, the commander of the Hasbaya district of the 30th Brigade, sent Mohammed Zein, the officer of the agents’ militia in the region, to buy refreshments. The agents were in a state of tension as a result of the blows dealt by the Islamic Resistance. The blows shook the agents’ army structure and infiltrated its security apparatus. The agents needed some juice to be refreshed and a morale boost to strengthen their determination. The general started boosting their morale, taking advantage of the intermittent time as usual. He enjoyed talking about his achievements against Hezbollah even if it was about the Kfour explosive device that lead to the martyrdom of five resistance fighters. He seemed boastful with his great achievement, which would contribute as he put it to the dismantling of Hezbollah!”
“He said, ‘the safety of the “Israeli” Defense Force and the Northern Command was based on striking Hezbollah everywhere.’ Then he continued sarcastically, ‘This is what happened to them in this operation – the Kfour Operation. We certainly hit them. We see that we have an intelligence capability to reach them. The use of the explosive devices is aimed at helping launch local strikes at Hezbollah whenever we want. I repeat what I said before, we meant to hit those responsible for the “subversive operations” in Hezbollah, which was sometimes portrayed in the country as a large organization. There are many fighters in it, and this is no secret when you succeed in striking them.’”
“Erez Gerstein was accustomed to recounting his military achievements. He presented himself as a hero in his wars against the resistance. He did not hesitate in his private conversations with his fellow officers to reveal his role in the attack of the Special Forces on the military headquarters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – the General Command in the Naameh-Damour area to assassinate Ahmed Jibril. Back then he was the commander of the Golani Brigade and the spearhead.
The operation began with dropping elite elements with booby-trapped dogs trained to enter tunnels. “Israeli” military intelligence officers, including Erez, believed that the assassination of Ahmed Jibril in this way would be a great achievement for them. But the pictures of the dead dogs on the pages of Beirut’s newspapers issued the following day proved without doubt the failure of the smart operation.”
“He said: ‘The more chaos, the more complaints from the military police. This is good.’ The leaders patted his shoulder and he always got the highest applause when he stated his position.”
“He strongly criticized what he called self-restraint in Lebanon, saying: ‘The soldiers’ blood is no less red than the blood of the civilians.’
“‘All eyes on him’ … He carried a cup filled with soda and sipped the acid nitrate, and then with his other hand he threw the pieces of nuts into his mouth and began to crack pistachios and the white pumpkin seeds with his shiny teeth. Everyone was looking at him in silence, observing the details of the forty-year old man’s facial features, which were drone by the ranks he occupied. He rose from the commander of the Special Forces to the commander of the Golani Brigade. In March 1998, he was appointed successor to Brigadier General Eli Amitai who was dismissed from office following his security failure and the confirmation by the leadership in the “Israeli” army that the Islamic Resistance was able to breach all his security measures and get to agents and recruit them. The command of the Armed Forces in the south was handed over to Gerstein, who outperformed his trainers with his vast experiences against what they called subversive operations. He was classified as one of the best field officers and most senior commander of the “Israeli” army in Lebanon. He had every Zionist’s trust as the commander of the liaison unit.”
No Peace!
Malik was tirelessly narrating what had happened at his home shortly before the death explosive device planted by the resistance on the road to Kawkaba killed Erez. Unlike his family, he never mentioned the word peace once. “I remember when we used to go to Eilat, Taba, Haifa, Naqab and Safad every year to attend secret security meetings and the distribution of tasks or receive training under the auspices of Uri Lubrani, who used to meet us once a year to deliver his “peace” speech. He entered with an olive branch in his hand saying: “You are the ambassadors of peace and mediators between us and the Lebanese state.”
“The general adjusted his seating position and puffed his chest out, which was filled with threats and mixed with kindness for the remains of the agents that were the only ones left behind from the many that deserted. His words were harsh. Rafiq Al Saeed noticed the relatives of the agents that deserted. So he whispered to Gerstein and asked him to smooth things over and avoid stirring sensitivity and tension among the remaining agents. However, Erez stuck to his stance as usual. When he spoke during meetings, silence befell the brigade commanders and officers, in anticipation of what he had in store for them. He never disappointed the enemy. His public statements in internal deliberations were headlines. He was the one who did not take into account the feelings of the mothers when he attacked the Four Mothers organization in May of last year because “it negatively affects the battlefield and posed a threat to the soldier and his life as a commander.” How would he take into account the feelings of his agents! This was what affected the siblings of the agents present there and pushed them to flee later and follow their fugitive brothers.”
Malik takes a puff of his cigarette and adds: “After more than half an hour, the general left my house with his entourage. The phone was on my side. I had a strange feeling of responsibility and fear of what was coming at once. My anticipation for certain news included a mixture of fear and challenge. I even wished for a moment that he would die after one or two days.
My heart was beating with every tick of the clock, which indicated ten past 11. Then my brother, who lived above my house, called me to turn on the television and shouted: “Look at what happened to the people who were at your house.” I tried to stop breathing to hear the news broadcast by one of the Arab satellite channels: “General Erez Gerstein, the “Israeli” liaison officer in southern Lebanon, was killed in southern Lebanon on the Marjayoun-Hasbayya road after an explosive device was detonated by Hezbollah fighters. Gerstein was the highest-ranking military officer killed by Hezbollah … Three of his companions, including an ‘Israeli’ radio correspondent were killed with him.”
“I was shocked and silent. I flipped channels hoping to hear something that refutes the news. I might be dreaming. Could all these resonating speeches evaporate and go in vain without a farewell!”
“After hearing the news of his death, dozens of Zionist settlers protested angrily in front of the headquarters of the so-called Minister of War. They burned rubber tires and raised banners saying: ‘Stop the foolish occupation’, ‘It’s stupid to stay in Lebanon’, and ‘It’s Lebanon, you idiots.’”
“Then I remembered the last thing he said before he left my house for Marjayoun: ‘Hezbollah is dying.’” The moment of my meditation was interrupted by a call. On the other side of the line was a voice I got used to confidently cheering: ‘Congratulations.’”
They Know Everything
One of the Zionist analysts said during a live broadcast in an interview with the enemy’s television: “that he had to say that because of everything that happened, this was a pre-planned ‘attack’ on Brigadier General Erez Gerstein. It was not a coincidence. He was the intended target and they were doing research on him. This is because they broadcast his biography all the time. Since the first broadcast on Al-Manar TV in the afternoon, they spoke about Gerstein’s life in an archival documentary for 20 minutes. Of course, this is not an easy job to do in a day. It is related to different events and tours he made during his work for a year since he took up his post, including material they record from “Israeli” television and based on Hezbollah’s information. What is more important is that the operation was carried out inside the “security zone” under “Israeli” control, and we know that Hezbollah has intelligence and informants inside this area. The elements collect and transfer this intelligence information to Hezbollah leaders in southern Lebanon. Accordingly, they plan to carry out their operations.
In the next episode: Who is the Malik al-Saeedi?
How did he infiltrate the agents’ militia and gained the confidence of the Zionist officers?
Information published for the first time
The first lie detector was used in police circles in 1924. It is a traditional device known as the polygraph or multiple scripts. It is illustrated by a number of wavy lines on a sheet of paper. It monitors the “physiological” indicators, such as respiration, skin conductivity and pulse. It also requires the use of highly qualified experts.
How to use a lie detector: The person being questioned sits on a chair. Two rubber belts are tied around his chest and stomach to measure the pattern of his breathing. A blood pressure monitor is also placed on his arm. His fingers are connected to a metal piece to measure the activity of the sweat glands. The test begins with asking simple questions to gain a standard for the indicators recorded on the polygraph. Then the subject is asked real questions to which he has to answer with Yes or No. This, while all his body indicators are drawn on a piece of moving paper.
Before and after the test, charts can be seen on the moving sheet to see if there is a sudden and significant change in the indicators, such as a rapid heartbeat, increase in blood pressure, increased sweating, or others when answering a particular question.
Researcher and director of the Federation of American Scientists Project, Steven Aftergood, said that the lie detector is a trick. It can easily be tricked by moving the feet or shoulders while giving any misleading answers to the interrogator’s questions as well as the constant thinking about disturbing matters that cause the subject to feel sad or upset during the session. Hence, the device can no longer distinguish between his worries and his misleading answers.
Related videos
Hundreds of Israelis have attended the funeral of a reporter killed in a car bomb attack in Southern Lebanon. Elan Roe was in a four-car convoy which was blown up by two bombs near the Israeli/Lebanese border at noon on Sunday. Brigadier-General Erez Gerstein and two other Israelis in the convoy were also killed.
More than 100 files from the 1800s are still classified in Israel’s archives
Israel recently published its catalogue of some 300,000 classified files, including thousands of documents from before the state was even founded. The very existence of the files had been kept a secret until recently.
By Asaf Shalev
The Israeli state archives in Jerusalem on September 03, 2012. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israel’s State Archives unceremoniously published the contents of its catalog of classified archive documents this past summer, posting them online in 363 separate spreadsheets. Buried in the catalog of classified archives were more than 100 files dating back to the 1800s, and more than 2,000 files that predate the founding of the State of Israel but which the archive has yet to declassify.
The very existence of the 300,000 classified files—their names, dates, and origin within the state bureaucracy—had been kept a secret, until now. One-fifth of the files, deemed too sensitive still by the government, were excluded from the disclosure.
“There were many people who were concerned about the opening of this catalog,” State Archivist Yaacov Lozowick wrote in a statement accompanying the release.
The classified catalog, currently housed on the website of the State Archives, is hard to find, difficult to access, and almost impossible to search through or analyze. In order to understand what lies in the cryptic files, +972 Magazine enlisted various data-research tools and analyzed the hundreds of thousands of entries.
One of the things that stood out immediately was the age of some of files. The oldest item, a Foreign Ministry document titled “Parker Report,” dates back to 1821. That’s all we know about it. In total, the catalog of classified archival documents contains 125 items from the 19th century, and about 2,000 documents from before 1948, when Israel was founded. Because we cannot access the files themselves, it is impossible to say why documents that predate the state are still classified over 70, and in some cases, nearly 200 years later.
In contrast, in the United States the FBI and CIA routinely release old records, even ones that cast those agencies in a negative light. It is also telling that, unlike the U.S. government archives, which are run as an independent agency, Israel’s State Archives is a branch of the Prime Minister’s Office, whose current occupant has proven to be no champion of transparency.
Documents from virtually every Israeli ministry appear in the catalog: each of the 363 original spreadsheets represent a different agency, sub-department, state-run company, and in a few cases, former senior officials who bequeathed their personal collections to the State Archives. Conspicuously absent are the Defense Ministry (aside from one cache of records produced during Israel’s first, short-lived occupation of Gaza in 1956), the military, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet security service. These institutions manage their archives separately, lest any documents wrangle free.
Almost three quarters of the files come from only three government bodies: Israel Police (28.2 percent or 71,874 files), the Foreign Ministry (24.2 percent or 61,620 files), and the Prime Minister’s Office (21 percent or 53,587 files). Next up are the Energy Ministry, the State Comptroller’s Office, the Israel Prison Service, and the Justice Department.
Israeli Black Panthers, including Charlie Biton, protesting on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, May 1, 1973. (Moshe Milner/GPO)
Some of file names alone are tantalizing. For instance, there was “Nine Years Out of 2,000” which turned out to be a secret book commission by the Mossad about the history of immigration from Morocco. Another is called “Shariah Court of Gaza,” 1913-1922. There is a set of Jordanian government documents apparently confiscated in 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, which had been under Jordanian administration.
Then, there are those still-classified archival files with labels like “anti-Israel organizations” and the “fight against anti-Semitism,” produced by Israel’s diplomatic missions around the world. There are files on Deir Yassin and Kfar Qasim, the two most notorious massacres carried out by Israeli forces. The catalog contains 13 files from the 1940s and 1950s about the assassination of Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat representing the UN Security Council who was killed by a Zionist militia in 1948. The sinking of Israel’s Dakar submarine, still a mystery, is the subject of another classified file.
But even many files without sensational appeal promise to contain valuable historical information. For example, there is the case of the Israeli Black Panthers, a 1970s group of radicals who demanded social justice for Mizrahi Jews. As part of my research for a book I am writing about the group, I knew there were police files on the Panthers from references found in a couple of academic articles and a Haaretz magazine feature. Eventually, I obtained the documents, but not from the State Archives (where I was told the Panthers files were unsealed by mistake and subsequently re-sealed).
These police intel reports, containing invaluable and rare documentation of the Panthers by various undercover agents and informants, came from two files, the only two state archives files on the Panthers that we knew existed. A search for the keyword “Panthers” in the classified database yielded the two file numbers, along with 21 other files — from various police precincts — containing the words “Black Panthers” in their titles. It would not have been possible to find them without searching in the combined database. Knowing that the files exist is far cry from holding them in your hands, of course, and the chance of obtaining those particular files is nil at the moment.
I recently filed a request for the remaining Panther files only to be told that the person authorized to review and release archival police records died in accident more than a year ago. A police spokesperson said in an email that a job opening for such a person would be posted “soon,” providing no timeline for the recruitment and hiring process.
An employee at the Israel State Archives looks at classified documents related to the Yemenite Children Affair, at the Israel State Archives offices in Jerusalem, December 22, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
‘A country without a history’
There’s a war of sorts going over Israel’s collective memory. One of main battles is being waged over access to state archives and the classified catalog is but one example. It is academics, journalists, independent researchers, and citizens’ groups on one side versus government gatekeepers on the other. Those aligned against disclosure are lawyers posted at government ministries, over-zealous record room clerks, and elected officials who smell in every cry for transparency a plot against Zionism.
Gadi Algazi, a historian from Tel Aviv University, built his academic reputation by extracting social and cultural histories from the clutches of archives dating back hundreds of years. These days, Algazi is better known by his students and friends for his preoccupation with the more immediate past. He recently conducted research into a long-forgotten protest movement and he gives occasional talks on what he’s found.
In the early 1950s, according to Algazi, residents of a transit camp for immigrants near Kfar Saba mounted a veritable political struggle demanding better treatment from authorities. Iraqi-born communists living in the camps riled up and then organized the community for a series of demonstrations and other actions. The police got called in and the whole affair was kept out of the papers and out of the wider public’s eye.
After a recent talk about the affair at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I caught a ride with Algazi back to Tel Aviv and in the car, he told me, “Israel is a country without a history.” What he meant was that we know very little about the machinations of power, money, and social status that congealed in the 1950s, the critical decade after the country’s founding. The policy decisions that shaped Israeli society and allocated resources and privileges remain an enigma to this day, he explained. The Kfar Saba story is a foray into a time when Israel intra-Jewish ethnic lines were drawn. The discovery of the event would not have taken as long as it did in a country with an appreciation for its past.
“For the vast majority of historical researchers, the documentation kept in archives is the central raw material,” said Miriam Eliav-Feldon, a veteran history professor and the chair of the Historical Society of Israel, speaking at an event confronting the crisis of access to public archives a few months later. “Without it, it’s almost impossible to find out what took place, what the intentions and motivations of the individuals were.”
The effort to “rescue archival access” was launched more than two years ago when the State Archives shuttered its reading room. That’s where patrons used to fill out request slips and were hand-delivered boxes of files. The State Archives decided that all of its materials would be digitized, however, and meanwhile, anyone who wants access has to search the online catalog and request the files be scanned and posted online. The plan may have been well intentioned, Eliav-Feldon said, but it has led to long and erratic wait times and a lack of transparency about what is being released. “It makes it impossible to get work done,” she added
A short time into the digital revamp efforts, lawyers for the Prime Minister’s Office imposed a new policy that gummed up the research process even further. Now, each file that has not already been scanned and uploaded must first be vetted by the government body that generated it to begin with. Want to read decades-old correspondence from the public security minister? The archive has to get the ministry’s approval first. The same goes for police reports, health ministry minutes and any other stacks of papers collecting dust on a warehouse shelf at the State Archives. Aside from having no conceivable incentive to allow the publication of potentially embarrassing documents, government bodies do not typically keep archival professionals on staff.
The coalition of archival access seekers reflects in many ways the various public battles being waged over Israel’s past. There are the Nakba scholars. There are Argentinian and Chilean Jews working to flesh out the extent of Israel’s ties with Latin American military dictatorships. Then there’s the reinvigorated campaign to expose the abduction and disappearance of thousands of babies of Mizrahi families. Without access to official archives, much of that work simply cannot be done.
“Blocking access to the documentary record, to the memory cells of our recent past,” Eliav-Feldon said at the Tel Aviv University event, “does grave harm to our knowledge and understanding of our existence.”
You can search the catalog of classified Israeli archives (in Hebrew) thanks to the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research. The nonprofit organization performed its own web scraping and programming of the classified catalog, making the files searchable on its website. You are also welcome to download the database by clicking here and play with the data yourself.
Asaf Shalev is a journalist based in California. He is completing a book about the Israeli Black Panthers with UC Press. Find him on Twitter: @asafshaloo. Omri Kahalon, a software engineer, contributed to this report.
The data in numbers:
Files:
Number of file names revealed: 254,734
Number of files that are so sensitive even their names are still being kept secret: roughly 45,000
What’s known about each file: Name, the government body that generated the file, and the year(s) covered.
Dates:
Date of oldest classified file: 1821
Date of most recent file: 2013
Number of files dating to the 19th century: 125
Top government offices represented in the catalog:
Israel Police: 28.2 percent of files (71,874 files)
Foreign Ministry: 24.2 percent (61,620 files)
Prime Minister’s Office: 21 percent (53,587 files)
Energy Ministry: 4.1 percent (10,331 files)
Israel Prison Service: 3.5 percent (8,927 files)
Public Security Ministry: 3.3 percent (8,445 files)
لم يعد الحديث عن عدم جاهزية سلاح البر في جيش العدو مجرد تقدير أو تحذير من لجان متخصصة أو من مفوض شكاوى الجنود. بل أتى من قلب المؤسسة العسكرية ومن قيادتها العليا. في وثيقة سرية قدمها نائب رئيس الأركان السابق اللواء يائير غولان، كان الأخير صريحاً إلى حد الإقرار بعدم ثقة القيادة العليا بالجيش البري، والتحذير مما ينتظر الجبهة الداخلية من سيناريوات لم تشهدها طوال تاريخها في كل الحروب التي خاضتها في مواجهة الجيوش العربية.
لم يعد بإمكان المؤسسة الإسرائيلية بكافة عناوينها، التغطية على هذه الحقيقة المؤلمة بالنسبة لكل إسرائيلي محتل، جندياً كان أو مستوطناً، خصوصاً أن من قدمها هو من القيادة العسكرية العليا، وكان أحد المرشحين لخلافة رئيس الأركان السابق غادي آيزنكوت في منصبه. ومما أضفى على الوثيقة المزيد من الصدقية أيضاً أنها لم تستند إلى تقديرات نظرية، بل إلى تجارب عملانية أيضاً، الأمر الذي رفع من مستوى الخطورة لدى قادة تل أبيب – حتى لو تمت التغطية على ذلك – خصوصاً أن هذا الواقع يمهد لمزيد من النكسات والهزائم التي ستكون مفاعيلها أشد خطورة على وجودها وأمنها.
أكد اللواء غولان أن انعدام الثقة بقدرات سلاح البر، والخوف من الخسائر، أديا إلى عدم تنفيذ اجتياح بري خلال العدوان على قطاع غزة في العام 2014، في ما سمي بـ«الجرف الصامد». وأشار إلى أن «انعدام الثقة بسلاح البر انتقل إلى الشبان، وألحق هذا الأمر ضرراً لا يمكن إصلاحه من حيث ثقة الضباط بأنفسهم وبقدرتهم على الانتصار». في المقابل، اعتبر رئيس معهد القدس للأبحاث الاستراتيجية، أفرايم عنبر، أن «الخشية هذه موجودة منذ سنوات طويلة وكما يبدو منذ أيام حرب لبنان الثانية» (حرب تموز 2006)، مشيراً إلى أنه «ليس عبثاً تم إهمال سلاح البر لمصلحة قدرات السايبر وسلاح الجو».
لكن المشكلة الكبرى بالنسبة لإسرائيل، تكمن في الخطورة الكبرى التي ستواجهها انطلاقاً من أن «الضربة التي ستوجه إلى الجبهة الداخلية ستكون (في الحرب المقبلة) أكبر مما تحتمله، وأن إخفاق حرب يوم الغفران (حرب تشرين العام 1973) سيكون «نزهة» قياساً بالضربة التي ستوجه إلى الجبهة الداخلية»، بحسب غولان. في المقابل، رأى قائد سلاح البر السابق اللواء غاي تسور، أنه «إذا نظرنا إلى المستقبل، وبموجب إدراكنا لطبيعة الحرب المقبلة في لبنان، فعلينا تعزيز ثقة صناع القرار بسلاح البر».
ويعود منشأ هذه الخطورة، بحسب منطق غولان، من أن «سلاح الجو لن يتمكن من وقف آلاف الصواريخ في الحرب المقبلة، وبالتالي سيكون من الضروري دخول القوات البرية إلى أراضي العدو ووقف إطلاق الصواريخ. وإلا فإن الجبهة الداخلية ستتلقى ضربات صاروخية سيكون من الصعب عليها تحملها»، «والوضع سيشكل صدمة للجمهور». يتلاقى هذا «التحذير» أيضاً مع ما سبق أن أقر به الرئيس السابق لأركان جيش العدو غادي آيزنكوت عشية رأس السنة العبرية في أيلول الماضي، بأن سلاح الجو غير قادر على الانتصار في الحرب، وأن «الانتصار سيأتي حصراً عبر عمل القوات البرية».
لكن المشكلة أن هناك قدراً من التسليم الضمني بأن سلاح البر في جيش العدو، عاجز عن تحقيق أي حسم عسكري، فضلاً عن الكلفة الباهظة التي سيتلقاها. ومن هنا تنبع عدم ثقة القيادة العليا به، وهو ما وصفه غولان في الوثيقة، بأنه «مفهوم كارثي» وأن «وضع سلاح البر سيء جداً، وقائد ذراع البر لا يعمل…». ويضيف أيضاً أن «مشكلة القيادة العليا للجيش الإسرائيلي تكمن في الوعي، وهذه القيادة فعلاً لا تعتمد على سلاح البر… وحتى الاستثمارات المالية الكبيرة في سلاح البر لن تفيد». وهكذا يتضح فعلياً أن إسرائيل عالقة بين «خيار جوي عقيم وغزو بري متعذر»
يادلين مشكّكاً: إلى أي مدى يمكن أن يصل الهجوم البري؟ إلى بيروت؟ شمال لبنان؟ العراق؟
كل ذلك توالى بعد محاولات المؤسستين العسكرية والسياسية التشكيك بتقارير مفوض شكاوى الجنود في الجيش اللواء يتسحاق بريك، الذي أكد عدم جاهزية الجيش للحرب. لكن انكشاف وثيقة غولان أطاح بكل هذه الجهود الدعائية.
في المقابل، تدرك تل أبيب خطورة الصورة التي تتشكل في وعي أعداء إسرائيل حول عدم جاهزية سلاح البر. وتدرك أيضاً القدرات الصاروخية الهائلة التي يمتلكها محور المقاومة، والقادر من خلالها على دك الجبهة الداخلية، وهو ما وفَّر ردعاً استراتيجياً في مقابل القوة النارية والتدميرية الهائلة لجيش العدو. وانعكاس كل ذلك على معادلات الردع المتبادل، وعلى المدى الذي يمكن أن يبلغه أعداء إسرائيل في حال نشوب أي مواجهة كبرى.
أياً كانت المساعي التي تبذلها القيادة الإسرائيلية لتبديل صورة جيشها بنظر جمهورها وبنظر أعدائها، فإنها من الناحية العملية لم تعد تثق بجيشها في مواجهة قوى المقاومة، وباتت أمام حقيقتين لخّصهما رئيس الاستخبارات العسكرية السابق، اللواء عاموس يادلين. الأولى عبّر عنها بالقول: «أنا لا أوافق على الادعاء أن العملية البرية ستوقف إطلاق الصواريخ. إلى أي مسافة ستصل العملية البرية؟ حتى بيروت؟ حتى شمال لبنان؟ إلى غرب العراق؟». وهو أراد بذلك الإشارة إلى أن هذا التمدد الإسرائيلي المفترض لن يوقف أيضاً دك الجبهة الداخلية بالصواريخ. والثانية، أن «ذراع البر في الجيش الإسرائيلي يمثّل شعب إسرائيل الذي لا يريد إرسال جنوده إلى هجوم بريّ في الحرب المقبلة». وهي الحقيقة الأكثر إيلاماً وحضوراً في وعي قادة تل أبيب على المستويين السياسي والأمني.
There is much talk in the Levant, in Syria and Lebanon, that Israel, and more precisely Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, is seriously contemplating a large-scale cross-border battle that could escalate into war to ensure his re-election. Notwithstanding his claims of a “tremendous success in “Operation Northern Shield” (ONS) launched last December, Netanyahu is sending the Israeli Army to look for other tunnels, away from the media spotlight.
The Prime Minister’s premature announcement of the success of the ONS shows that he has become the hostage of his own optimism, which he would like to invest in his forthcoming re-election. Netanyahu has managed to create serious panic among the Israeli population bordering Lebanon, and further inland, by confirming that Hezbollah possesses precision missiles capable of reaching any chosen target.
Meanwhile, the secret underground infrastructure between Lebanon and Israel is not entirely under Israeli control and could be decisive in any future war involving the use of infantry for the purpose of abducting Israeli soldiers or officers or attacking settlments. Hezbollah has modern excavation equipment and the tunnels will be essential for moving any war that Israel might start out of south Lebanon into territory controlled by Israel’s enemy.
According to well -informed sources, the chances are strong that Israel may start a large battle against Lebanon, potentially leading to war. These sources believe that “Netanyahu may opt to use guided missiles and air force bombing with the goal of limiting Hezbollah’s missile capability. In that case, infantry would not be required and the Israeli army would be limited to protecting its borders and ensuring that no infiltration is possible through underground cross-borders tunnels”.
Prime Minister Netanyahu believes Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, is embarrassed by Israel’s tremendous success in dismantling its underground infrastructure, and he is confident that he has completely deprived Nasrallah of this important asset (the tunnels) over the last six weeks.
Israel discovered four tunnels so far; Hezbollah’s leader has not denied this. Nevertheless, Netanyahu is misleading the Israelis by claiming he has destroyed all tunnels. According to well-informed sources, the Israeli army is “sending trained dogs into the newly discovered cross-tunnels despite their great depth, with the aim of clearing them of explosives or attacking those working in these tunnels”.
There is nothing new in Israeli officials lying to their citizens. Sayyed Nasrallah said one of the tunnels is old and Moshe Ya’alon, the ex-Israeli Defence Minister, agreed: “We lied in order to preserve the security of the state. We did it to mislead the other side”. Nasrallah’s message has created division among the Israeli population, between those trusting their army (not their politicians) and others who trust Nasrallah.
Hezbollah considers the tunnels an essential asset in any forthcoming war against Israel. The Israeli army has been digging tunnels between one to fifty meters deep in a 10 to 13-kilometre wide area in an inland zone near Ayta al-Shaab and Kfarkila (Metula). There is a much a larger area of 107 km, extending to the Lebanese coast, which Israel has not excavated.
Consider the Lebanese border city of Aita al-Shaab, where there are hills on both sides of the borders with a mountain on top of the border hundreds of meters high. Is Israel equipped to look for tunnels in this area? Today, Hezbollah may indeed have the use of silent compressors and excavation equipment capable of reducing construction time for tunnels from two years to only 4-6 months. The necessary engineering, planning and modern excavating equipment are not lacking, despite Netanyahu’s belief that Hezbollah is in serious financial difficulties and incapable of digging more costly tunnels.
In many locations, Israel controls the air with drones and the borders with high definition long-range thermal imagery multisensory radars and cameras, Pulsed Doppler, Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave and visible light intelligent imaging systems providing advanced warning. These systems detect and track personnel and all moving objects by their speed and direction. Tunnels bypass all these measures and allow forces to attack the enemy from the rear. The tunnels in the south of Lebanon are different from those in Gaza since the Lebanese topography is mainly composed of rocks.
All the sources I spoke to confirmed that “cross-border tunnels are important for surprising the enemy and smuggling troops behind enemy lines. That is the plan Sayyed Nasrallah spoke about when he threatened to occupy Galilee”. According to sources, “the tunnels are important but not the only way to cross the borders”.
“A small quantity of explosive is enough to bring down a 4-6-metre-wide cement wall across the Lebanese-Israeli borders to open a breach big enough for motorised troops, once the decision to cross to the other side has been taken”, said the sources. This scenario maybe plausible only if and when Israel takes the initiative to trigger a war and cross the Lebanese borders with its infantry. Since Israel violates the Lebanese sovereignty on a daily basis, it would not be surprising for Hezbollah to mimic Israel.
The battle of tunnels is an unstoppable nightmare process for any army. Tunnels are constructed to be used only once. The “Galilee plan” aimed to force Israel to pull out of Arab occupied territory (the Golan Heights) or to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a withdrawal from Galilee (or any other village or city in Israel) in case of war and a Hezbollah advance into enemy territory. Sources do not rule out the deaths of hundreds of men on both sides should a war break out, were Hezbollah to decide to cross the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Israel is taking Hezbollah’s menace seriously: the “Gates of Fire” battalion was created to counter Hezbollah’s plans to conquer the narrow Galilee panhandle strip. In putting forth their intelligence assessment, Netanyahu and his ex-Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot offered Israeli settlers a zombie horror film scenario about Hezbollah plans to push “1000 to 2000 fighters who will carry out border shock attacks” into Galilee border communities. The two Israeli officials thus played into Sayyed Nasrallah’s hand, doing more psychological damage and putting more fear into the local Israeli communities than anyone else could have. Netanyahu aimed to magnify his “achievement” for electoral purposes. But he failed, mainly due to his premature announcement about the end of the tunnels issue, although his forces are well aware of the existence of many more tunnels.
The sources evaluate Netanyahu’s attachment to power as very dangerous for Israel. “He and his team could very well opt for the option of a large battle or a war against Lebanon in order to be re-elected and avoid jail since he is accused of corruption. Netanyahu took over the Defence Ministry and, as a non-expert in military affairs, he needs to prove his skills by doing something against Lebanon. We say Lebanon because the Israeli Prime Minister understands that any future attack against Syria will have counter-productive serious consequences on his political future because Damascus and its allies will respond” and he knows it.
The sources recognise that Israel enjoys unprecedented US support. President Trump would apparently do anything to please and support Israel. US forces are already based in the country training and conducting manoeuvres for a possible future war scenario, and of course offering their immediate military support to Israel. The sources, on the other hand, are confident that “Iraqi security forces, allies of the “Axis of the “Resistance”, will not hesitate to be part of any future war on the Levant”.
“If the US bluntly and overtly participates in any future war against Syria or Lebanon, US forces will be hostages and targets throughout Mesopotamia. The next war will not be similar to any previous one and will spare no one”, said the sources.
Hezbollah would rather avoid war. Sayyed Nasrallah has said “if Netanyahu is pleased to say he has managed to destroy all our missiles (but in fact only a few), then let him be. We won’t contradict him”.
Hezbollah doesn’t want to challenge the Israeli Prime Minister too strongly because it seeks to avoid provoking any future destructive war, which would implicate not only the south of Lebanon but also the suburbs of the capital. In the event of war, they won’t be drinking tea in Beirut, but as Israeli Major General Tamir Yadai put it, neither will they be drinking coffee in Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks follow US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops from Syria after declaring victory over Daesh.
Speaking at the fifth Israel-Greece-Cyprus summit held in the southern city of Beersheba, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to intensify efforts in Syria.
“We will continue to act in Syria to prevent Iran’s efforts to militarily entrench itself against us. We are not reducing our efforts, we will increase our efforts. I know that we do so with the full support and backing of the US”, Netanyahu said.
The prime minister said that he had been warned of the US troop withdrawal from Syria in advance during phone conversations with President Donald Trump on Monday and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday.
Shortly after his speech, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Dannon said that Tel Aviv had its “concerns” about Syria.
“We have our concerns about Syria, about the presence of Iranian troops in Syria and we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people regardless if you have American troops, Russian troops or any other nations. We will continue to follow our policy of not allowing the Iranians to build their bases next to our borders”, Dannon said.
Iran has yet to respond to the Israeli officials’ remarks, but it has repeatedly emphasised that its forces maintain an exclusively advisory presence in Syria, and denied any plans to establish a permanent military presence in the country.
On Wednesday, President Trump took to Twitter to declare victory over Daesh* in Syria amid media reports that he was planning to pull American troops out of the war-torn country.
We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.
He then announced the decision to withdraw forces, tweeting that the move “was no surprise”:
Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there work. Time to come home & rebuild. #MAGA
In a series of follow-up tweets POTUS reiterated that he had on multiple occasions said that US troops should leave and let “others” take care of Syria:
Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight…..
….Russia, Iran, Syria & many others are not happy about the U.S. leaving, despite what the Fake News says, because now they will have to fight ISIS and others, who they hate, without us. I am building by far the most powerful military in the world. ISIS hits us they are doomed!
Since 2014, the US-led coalition has been conducting its operations in Syria, without either a UN mandate, or authorisation of the country’s authorities. Damascus has consistently dismissed Washington’s military presence in the country as illegal.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State, is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
Israel has no other option but to launch a “war” against Hamas, the Israeli defense minister has recently claimed, calling it the last resort. Modern history shows, however, that Israel has resorted to force quite frequently.
Wars are only conducted when there is no choice, and now there is no choice,” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the Israeli Parliament on Tuesday. But it looks like Israel believed many times that it severely lacked options throughout the last two decades, as it has launched more than half a dozen major military operations since the beginning of the 21st century.
Largest incursion into West Bank since the Six-Day War
In 2002, a suicide bombing carried out by the Hamas militant group over the course of the Second Intifada, which resulted in the deaths of 30 Israelis, provoked an IDF operation called Defensive Shield. It’s the largest one in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
Between March and May 2002, tens of thousands of Israeli troops invaded the six largest cities of the West Bank and imposed strict curfews and restrictions on locals as well as foreigners working in the area.
The Israeli measures resulted in a partial ban on humanitarian aid and medical personnel entering the West Bank. Thirty Israelis and almost 500 Palestinians were killed, while 7,000 Palestinians were detained, according to the UN.
2004 invasions of Gaza
In 2004, the Israeli forces conducted two major operations in Gaza. The first, called Operation Rainbow, was carried out in May and was in response to Palestinian attacks in which 11 IDF soldiers were killed. Israel invaded Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, razed around 300 homes and expanded the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt in what it called a push to destroy Palestinian smuggling tunnels. Almost 60 Palestinians, including 11 minors, were killed in less than two weeks of the military campaign, according to Human Rights Watch.
Four months later, Israel invaded Gaza again after two children were killed as a Palestinian-launched rocket hit the Israeli town of Sderot. The Israeli operation, called Days of Penitence, targeted northern Gaza to prevent further rocket launches and claimed 129 Palestinian lives, including between 50 and 87 militants, and one Israeli soldier, according to the Israeli media.
2006 Lebanon War
In 2006, a cross-border raid by the Hezbollah militants has led to a 34-day war between Israel and its neighbor, Lebanon. Hezbollah launched rocket strikes against Israeli border towns and ambushed a military patrol, killing three soldiers. Two more were abducted, as militants sought to exchange them for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Tel Aviv responded with air strikes and artillery fire, targeting Hezbollah positions and Lebanese civilian infrastructure alike.
Israel imposed an air and naval blockade and invaded southern Lebanon. The conflict led to the deaths of more than 1,100 Lebanese people and 165 Israelis, including soldiers. It also displaced about a million Lebanese and over 300,000 Israelis.
Operation Cast Lead
In December 2008, Israel once again invaded Gaza with the stated goal of stopping indiscriminate rocket fire into Israeli territory. The Palestinian Hamas group said at the time that the rocket launches were a response to Israel’s violation of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire reached six months earlier.
During the operation, called Cast Lead, the IDF struck the densely populated cities of Gaza, Khan Yunis, and Rafah. The military campaign, which lasted until January 18, 2009, claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, according to Palestinian sources. An Israeli NGO put the number of civilian deaths at 759, while the IDF put it at 295.
The operation became known as the Gaza War, and is sometimes even referred to as the Gaza Massacre. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians during the campaign.
Operation Protective Edge
The latest large-scale IDF military campaign in Gaza – Operation Protective Edge – took place in 2014. It was carried out in response to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by alleged members of Hamas’ military wing.
After Israel conducted an operation to arrest Hamas military leaders, Hamas responded with rocket attacks. The Israeli airstrikes and ground campaign to put an end to Palestinian rocket attacks resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the vast majority of them Gazans. During the 51-day assault, over 2,100 Palestinians were killed, with another 10,000 injured. The Israeli actions provoked worldwide protests and were slammed by human rights groups over the disproportionate use of force.
Israel lost 66 of its soldiers and five civilians from Hamas rocket fire. Another 469 IDF soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured.
Even though Israel has not conducted any major military operations against Palestinians since 2014, its violent crackdown on Palestinian protesters in Gaza continues to take its toll. Over 200 Palestinians have been killed, including medics and journalists, and more than 22,000 injured since border protests – the Great March of Return – began in March.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 