Airlines Can’t Wing It Anymore Against Hackers

‘We have to get the budget out there to stay ahead of this because otherwise it’s gonna have a major impact’

The Israeli military made (air)waves last week when it announced that it was installing cyber defenses on its F-35 jets. While this may seem like a futuristic concept, it’s actually long overdue from an online security standpoint.

“Bad actors were already doing bad things on the internet before the military caught up with technology,” Richard Blech, founder and CEO of the cybersecurity firm Secure Channels, told the Observer.

As nuclear talks resume, Israel threatens military option

 

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said Thursday that all options including military action were on the table in the face of the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Speaking to Israel Radio as crunch talks on Iran’s nuclear program continued in Switzerland, Steinitz said Israel would seek to counter any threat through diplomacy and intelligence but “if we have no choice we have no choice… the military option is on the table.”

Asked about possible US objections to Israeli military action, Steinitz pointed to Israel’s unilateral attack against the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1981.

IDF deploys sixth Iron Dome battery

Newest missile-defense cannon first to be manned solely by reserves soldiers; six more Iron Domes planned

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The newest battery is the first to be operated solely by reserves soldiers and is part of a plan to introduce further reserves “one after another,” according to Col. Zvika Haimovitch, the commander of the IAF’s Aerial Defense Division’s Active Defense Wing.

Russian Naval Intelligence in the Middle East

What was not known was that at the same time, the Russian Navy vessel CCB-201 – one of the Russian Navy’s largest intelligence vessels – was present in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The CCB-201 is no ordinary intelligence vessel, but rather a naval intelligence gathering unit which is similar in its characteristics to Israel’s Unit 8200 – a SIGINT collection and decryption unit capable of intercepting and listening to military transmissions between naval vessels and aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea.

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From past experience, it appears that the purpose of the visit to the area is for gathering intelligence on NATO and US force activities, as well as Israel’s readiness with regards to the situation in Syria – where Russia has military interests and assets, and thus is concerned of military intervention.

U.S. publishes details of missile base Israel wanted kept secret

If you thought the Obama adminstration was Israel-friendly, you might want to give that a second thought. From the beginning it was fairly obvious the direction the relationship was going.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.

The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3. As with all Defense Department projects, detailed specifications were made public so that contractors could bid on the $25 million project. The specifications included more than 1,000 pages of details on the facility, ranging from the heating and cooling systems to the thickness of the walls.

“If an enemy of Israel wanted to launch an attack against a facility, this would give him an easy how-to guide. This type of information is closely guarded and its release can jeopardize the entire facility,” said an Israeli military official who commented on the publication of the proposal but declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the facility. He declined to say whether plans for the facility have been altered as a result of the disclosure.

Israel Air Force bombs Syrian chemical and other targets from Lebanon, Golan

This could be the beginning of a wider, regional war. We are yet to see Bashar al-Assad’s response, or Iran’s. Perhaps the Assad regime’s military is too crippled or diverted on the civil war itself. Perhaps Iran also would back away from further involvement, other than planning for a post-Assad era with thousands of sleeper operatives it has already planted within its neighbor. Only time will tell, but this does seem to heighten the possibility of Isaiah 17:1 becoming fulfilled. Assad himself has said he will vow to press on, even if Damascus is reduced to rubble.

American sources reported Israeli air strikes Saturday, May 4, against a number of targets in Syria including a chemical weapons depot outside Damascus. They were carried out remotely from Lebanese air space and the Golan starting Friday and continuing up until early Saturday, May 3. Neither Damascus nor Jerusalem has yet confirmed the attacks in which according to US sources 16 IAF warplanes took part.  According to one report, Israeli jets were seen early Saturday circling over Assad’s presidential compound in Damascus before moving on to target a weapons site. The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.

Some sources say the target attacked was a convoy transporting chemical arms to the Lebanese Hizballah, which Israeli leaders have vowed to prevent. debkafile’s military sources say the start of the Israeli air force operation can be fixed by the sirens set off over the Golan Friday afternoon and again before dawn Saturday. The IDF spokesman said they were set off by a “technical glitch.” They now prove to have been triggered automatically by the Israeli aerial movements.

Germany ‘may buy weaponised drones from Israel’

AFP – Germany is in talks with Israel to buy weaponised drones for its military that are seen as more technologically advanced than US ones, the weekly Der Spiegel reported.

The news magazine’s Monday edition said the German defence ministry had already held two meetings with Israeli military officials, in November 2012 and February 2013, on the proposed purchase.

Peace by Thursday or the tanks roll in: Israel sets deadline for truce as it delays ground invasion for 48 hours

Hamas dared. Israel has obliged. We now have a time table for war.

Get ready for an escalation and the possibility of the entire Middle East getting set on fire. The Middle East getting set on fire could bring forth a whole host of things such as retaliatory terrorist strikes on the US homeland to the collapse of economies. This is not a prediction, but a possible scenario, which hopefully will not come to pass.

As explosions terrorise both Palestinians and Israelis for a seventh day running, Israel has put plans for a ground operation in Gaza ‘on hold’ while talks to secure a truce with Hamas militants continue.

While it is understood a Thursday deadline has been set for the Egypt-brokered talks, an Egyptian intelligence source said ‘there is still no breakthrough and Egypt is working to find middle ground.’

Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza

(CBS News) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister’s headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.

Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that, despite vague talk of a cease-fire, Hamas managed to hit a southern Israeli city with four rockets, and retaliation continued unabated.

Hamas military chief killed in Gaza air strike

Hamas has said an Israeli air strike in Gaza killed Ahmed Jabari, the head of its military wing, in an attack on a vehicle on Wednesday.

Hamas has said an Israeli air strike in Gaza killed Ahmed Jabari, the head of its military wing, in an attack on a vehicle on Wednesday.

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The Israeli army said that the military was prepared for a ground operation in Gaza, with a spokesman saying: “All options are on the table.”

Major US, Israeli air defense exercise begins

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says its largest ever exercise with the United States has begun.

A major air defense drill called Austere Challenge 2012 started Sunday and includes more than 3,500 Americans and 1,000 Israelis. The militaries are practicing their ability to work together against a range of threats facing Israel, the main U.S. ally in the Mideast.

Israeli air, tanks pound Gaza after massive Palestinian barrage. Hamas, Jihad threaten to broaden attacks

Israeli warplanes, self-propelled artillery and short-range missiles attacked Hamas and Jihad Islami positions and command posts in the Gaza Strip early Monday, Oct. 8, shortly after Palestinians loosed a barrage of 55 missiles and mortar shells on the Eshkol district. Both terrorist organizations claimed they were responsible for the barrage, which caused no casualties only heavy damage to property. Israelis living within range of the Gaza Strip are warned to stay 15 seconds away from protected shelters.

Israeli jets stage mock raids over south Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s state news agency says Israeli warplanes have staged mock raids over villages in southern Lebanon, breaking the sound barrier.

Israeli air force shoots down drone aircraft

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli air force shot down a drone after it crossed into southern Israel on Saturday, the military said, but it remained unclear where the aircraft had come from.

Obama snubs Netanyahu on Iran: My decisions – only what’s right for America

At this point it’s quite clear on how divided Obama wants Washington to be from Tel Aviv. In addition, it is also quite clear that this is a set-up against Israel to begin with. To further explain, Obama knows quite well Iran’s position on Israel. That being, any attack from Israel against Iran is considered to be co-sponsored by the United States. Furthermore, should Iran sense an attack by Israel is imminent, they will pre-emptively attack the Jewish state anyhow — and the Iranian regime will still label the USA as a co-sponsor.  If no pre-emptive strike is made on Iran, the Persian nation will continue enveloping the middle east into its sphere of influence and continue to build arms (nuclear or not) until it realizes it can finally wipe Israel off the map, as it has always wanted.

To explain the set-up, the aforementioned must be considered in conjunction with Obama’s clear anti-Israeli stance — and nevermind all the rhetorical political double-talk out in public about how we have never been closer to Israel, as actions speak louder than words. The Obama administration continues intentionally stalling on action against Iran, buying them time and increasing the danger for Israel. The set-up is that, with its back against the wall Israel has no choice to strike or cease to exist. The effect: Israel is effectively a scapegoat and should it choose to strike Iran, all of the world’s ills as a result are its fault. Should Obama become re-elected, he will have no further re-election fear and free will have rein to do damage to Israel as he has wished during his first term. It will likely not be able to successfully strike without American help.

Israel is in a very difficult catch-22. At this point, it’s safe to say they will strike. When they strike, that’s when things get serious — such as possible terrorist attacks on the American homeland as detailed in previous posts, further justifying Obama’s future actions against Israel. Timing is the only remaining question.

The US president was crystal clear: By saying he will be ruled solely by American security interests, he showed them that they too were being left to be guided by Israel’s security interests. So forget about red lines for America, he was telling Netanyahu.

His blunt verging-on-contemptuous dismissal of Israel’s concerns as “noise out there” was not much different from the way Iran’s leaders referred to the Jewish state.

Their threats against Israel have different dimensions: On the one hand, they say that if Israel is even thinking of attacking Iran, it will be destroyed in a preemptive attack. On the other, Israel has neither the military capability nor the courage to strike Iran.

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The Iranian president had no need to explain how Iran would react, because the answer was broadcast ahead of his arrival in New York to address the UN General Assembly Thursday, by Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards missile section.

The general said Sunday:  Should Israel and Iran engage militarily, “nothing is predictable… and it will turn into World War III” Addressing Iran’s Arab-language network, he said, “In circumstances in which they (the Israelis) have prepared everything for an attack, it is possible that we will make a pre-emptive attack. Any Israeli strike would be presumed to be authorized by the US. Therefore, “we will definitely attackUS bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan.”

Tehran was therefore pulling against Obama by tying American and Israeli security interests into an inextricable bundle.
debkafile’s Jerusalem sources report that Netanyahu is now seriously considering calling off his trip to New York for a speech to the UN General Assembly scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 27. He realizes that by challenging US policy from the UN platform, he would lay himself open to criticism for gratuitous provocation of the president and interference in America’s election campaign weeks before a presidential election.

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For two weeks, the Israeli prime minister has dodged and ducked around the White House message. Instead, he has kept on bombarding Washington with high-powered messengers. They all came back with the same tidings: the US President is not only fed up with Israeli pressure but more determined than evade any military engagement with Iran.

Full article: Obama snubs Netanyahu on Iran: My decisions – only what’s right for America (DEBKAfile)