U.S. Navy may stop docking in Haifa after Chinese take over port

The USS George H.W. Bush docked in northern Israel’s Haifa Port, July 3, 2017. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

 

Concerns prompt ‘review’ of Shanghai agreement within Israel’s inner security cabinet, sources say.

WASHINGTON – The US Navy has acknowledged that its longstanding operations in Haifa may change once a Chinese firm takes over the civilian port in 2021, prompting Israel’s national security cabinet to revisit the arrangement, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

IDF sends tanks south, readies for heavier Gaza conflict after largest barrage

A convoy of Israeli tanks on the highway near the southern Israeli town of Sderot, on November 12, 2018. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

 

Military moves more troops to border as policymakers said to give go-ahead for intensified strikes against Hamas, which vows to target a million Israelis

The Israeli military deployed additional troops and tanks to the Gaza Strip border on Monday following the largest barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel from the coastal enclave in a single day.

The army was reportedly given a green light from policymakers to pummel terror groups in the Strip if they continued with the barrages, as the terror organizations in the Strip vowed to do.

“The resistance factions’ joint command center is holding a serious conversation about expanding its range of fire. Ashkelon is just the beginning. Approximately one million Zionists will be within the range of our missiles if the Zionist enemy’s decision is to continue its aggression,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, over 300 rockets and mortar shells were fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip as of 10 p.m. Monday — a number that was expected to rise as barrages continued throughout the night.

IDF and Russian army on collision course in Syria

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense leveled several grave charges against Israel on Sunday, Sept. 23 as having caused the loss of the Russian IL-20 plane with 15 servicemen aboard. IDF sources responded that the Russians are hiding their own military lapses with “lies” against Israel over the downing of the Russian plane by Syrian air defenses on Sept. 17.

DEBKAfile: This exchange of insults is not helpful in the light of reports from a Kremlin source that President Vladimir Putin has decided not to let the negative MoD report mar his friendly ties with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and to let its aspersions remain in the “professional” domain. (i.e. versus the IDF and IAF).

After Netanyahu-Putin summit, Israel must decide on a war with Iran in Syria

 

Up until Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s talks with President Vladimir Putin Moscow [sic] on Wednesday Nov. 11, Israel made clear in every way possible – diplomatic and military – its resolve to prevent Iran and its proxies from establishing a presence in Syria.

The resolve to remove Iran, Hizballah and the other Shiite militias under Revolutionary Guards command was emphasized for the umpteenth time on Tuesday, before Putin’s special emissaries.  His special envoy Alexander Lavrentiev and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin arrived in Jerusalem for another try to shift Netanyahu from his all-or-nothing stance on Iran. With them was a large Russian delegation of security and military officials from the Operations Division of the Russian General Staff and intelligence units specializing in Syrian affairs.

IRGC commander claims ‘Islamic Army’ near Golan Heights, ready to fight Israel

 

In a recent speech, IRGC deputy commander Hossein Salami boasted of the creation of an “Islamic army” near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which he warned threatened to “end” Israel.

“Today, an international Islamic army has been formed in Syria, and the voices of the Muslims are heard near the Golan,” Salami said, as quoted by the Times of Israel.

Trump lets Putin have Syria for a summit, Iranian/Hizballah gain access to Israel’s border on refugee backs

 

Israel’s armed forces are distributing tents, food, water and medicines to the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees reaching its Golan border in flight from the incredibly brutal Russian and Syrian air strikes on southern Syria. The figures are staggering – 342 air strikes on Thursday night, June 28, against rebel-held towns near the Israeli and Jordanian borders – of which 299 were conducted by the Russian air force and 43 by Syrian pilots. Nawa, a town opposite the Israeli Golan border took the heaviest bombardment.

IDF watchdog: Israel’s military is not ready for the next war

 

Maj. Gen (res.) Yitzhak Brick, IDF ombudsman, concludes in his confidential 2017 report that Israel is not ready for the next war. He shared some of his findings with reporters on Monday, June 25:

US Army Tanks To Get Invisible Futuristic Missile Shields

 

The United States Army M1 Abrams tank, an American third-generation main battle tank, is being upgraded with an invisible shield that will destroy all chemical energy anti-tank threats and other threats before reaching the vehicle.

In other words, America’s main battle tank is adding an invisible force field to its defensive measures, which is straight out of a military science fiction novel.

Israel Attacks Syrian, Iranian Posts as Border Region Boils

Photographer: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

 

• Strikes follow Iranian drone’s reported infiltration to Israel
• Israeli F-16 crashes as situation threatens to escalate

Israel launched attacks on Iranian and Syrian positions after it said Iran sent a military drone into its airspace Saturday, as the tense situation along the border threatened to escalate into wider violence.

Israel struck 12 targets in Syria, including three air-defense batteries and four Iranian targets, in a “large-scale attack” responding to the drone intrusion, the Israel Defense Forces said. An F-16 fighter plane crashed in northern Israel after coming under fire from Syrian anti-aircraft missiles, the Israeli army spokesman said in a text message; the pilots were hospitalized with moderate to severe injuries. 

Israel extremely nervous over Russian operations on its Golan border

On the outside, Israel is all smiles and full of praise for way the coordination with Moscow is working for averting clashes between its air force and Russian warplanes over Syria. This goodwill was conspicuous in the compliments Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Vladimir Putin traded when they met on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit Monday, Nov. 30.

But the first disquieting sign appeared Tuesday, Dec. 1. Senior Russian and Israeli officers were due to meet in Tel Avid [sic] to discuss strengthening the cooperation between the two army commands. But no word from Moscow or Jerusalem indicated whether the meeting had taken place.

Israel practices national preparedness for war, mass evacuations

The IDF “Exercise Turning Point 15” was launched across Israel Sunday with the accent on the functioning of national infrastructure services including, water, power, gas and food supplies for populations affected by a multi-front and/or massive terrorist attack

In future war, Hezbollah will fire 1,000 rockets a day, IDF predicts

Outgoing Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said that a future war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group will include hundreds or even thousands of rockets raining down on the country every day.

Eisenberg spoke during an event Tuesday marking his stepping down from the post and handing it over to Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick.

The citizens of Israel, he said, should be prepared for significant challenges. According to estimates by the Home Front Command conducted during Eisenberg’s tenure, Israel must be prepared for a “blitz of attacks,” including 1,000-1,500 rockets falling on Israel’s home front every day.

IDF Chief of Staff Gantz: Entire Middle East is Upside Down

Speaking at a memorial service for former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who passed away four years ago, Gantz said “we are currently at what could be called a historical junction. There is a wide chasm between the way the Western countries split up this region 100 years ago through various agreements – mostly for their own convenience – and the reality of today,” with the arrangements for the nation-states decided upon in previous agreements between France, Britain, and other countries falling victim to revolution in places like Syria and Libya.

Massive Explosions Reported Following Israeli Aistrikes Near Syrian Capital

For an update, please see also: Israel strikes against Syria may be linked to Iranian activity (The Jerusalem Post)

 

The last time Israel ignored Syrian sovereignty and attacked Bashar al Assad’s nation without fear of reprisals was in the spring of 2013, when the US was eager to launch an all out war, and tear apart the last country that stood in the path of the Qatari natural gas pipeline to Europe (and was thus desperate for a provocative pretext). As a result of last minute Russian intervention, the war was avoided following the now traditional John Kerry snafu, but not before Syria had declared Israel’s attack An “Act Of War.’ Moments ago, following a year and a half hiatus, Israel, which had not made many headlines on the geopolitical arena in recent months, launched another bomb raid on Syria, and as AP reports, Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes Sunday near Damascus, one near the city’s international airport and a second outside a town close to the Lebanese border, Syria’s state news agency said.

IDF Commanders: Time for decisive war move after IDF victories in Shejaiya, E. Rafah and Khan Younes

Senior IDF commanders said Wednesday July 23 that the time had come for a decisive war move. Breaking up the Hamas’ subterranean tunnels would take weeks, they said, but the critical encounter for completing their military mission and bringing the war to a close was still to be fought after three key IDF victories: The battle for Shejaiya grabbed the headlines, but the confrontations in eastern Rafah and eastern Khan Younes in the south were just as important.

The commanders are now urging a large-scale assault on the bunker complex housing Hamas’ top military command and infrastructure. They say it is up to national leaders, i.e., the security cabinet, to determine the military’s next move and the disposition of the forces present on the battlefields of the Gaza Strip.

The tank units could undertake the opening moves for the next, critical stage of the Israeli operation at no more than hours’ notice.