October 23, 2018
Anticipating Hizbullah Clash, Israel Builds Barriers, Deploys Tanks On Lebanon Border
In recent weeks, residents of the Upper Galilee region have witnessed trucks unload countless mounds of sand and watched artificial hills slowly rise, with a tank or armored personnel carrier parked atop each one.
“The hills are being built close to the cement barrier the IDF has been building in recent months along the border,” an area resident told Israeli news, referring to Israel’s border with Lebanon. “Judging from what I’ve seen, they are being built opposite Hizbullah watchtowers in a manner that allows Israeli soldiers to see past the cement wall, into Lebanon.”
“While they were building the barrier, I saw a tank overlooking the work, and now we see the same tank on the hill itself,” he said.
However defense officials said that there was no connection between the location of Hizbullah’s watchtowers and the location of the artificial hills where the tanks and APCs have been deployed
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, “The elevated hills were built for the tanks routinely deployed throughout the sector. The elevations were carried out to improve the tanks’ field of vision and effectiveness next to the 20-26 foot high cement barrier.”
(israelhayom.com)
How Many Missiles Does Hizbullah Have Aimed At Israel?
The Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah’s arsenal of missiles and rockets has grown to 150,000, Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan revealed Sunday (21st).
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies on Sunday, Erdan highlighted the increasing military presence of Iran and its allies along the Israeli border, according to Israeli media.
Iran has worked in recent years to entrench itself militarily on Syrian soil, giving its Quds Force branch of the Revolutionary Guards a base of operations for attacks on Israel, including a February 2018 aerial attack on northern Israel.
Tehran has also sponsored Hizbullah, which remains active in southern Lebanon along the Israeli border, Erdan said, revealing that Hizbullah’s arsenal is estimated to include more than 150,000 missiles and rockets.
Erdan added that Iran – which maintains ties with Iraq’s Shiite-majority government – could draw Iraq into direct involvement in a future conflict with Israel.
The Internal Security Minister said Iran’s strategy against Israel includes opening up as many possible fronts against the Jewish state for a potential future conflict. With more assets targeted at Israel, Iran hopes to deter Jerusalem from striking Iran’s nuclear facilities in a bid to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“Commander of the Al Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, wants to create another Hizbullah in Syria. After the era of Mahmoud Abbas, I wouldn’t be surprised if Iran tried to spread its influence even in Judah and Samaria,” said Erdan.
(israelnn.com)
Report: Iran Flew Precision Missile Tech To Hizbullah
Just last week, Iran sent Hizbullah advanced weapons technology to turn unguided rockets into precision missiles, new flight data obtained by Fox News said.
American and other Western intelligence sources have long warned that Iran has been increasing its shipments of advanced weaponry to Hizbullah, including Global Positioning System (GPS) parts to make unguided rockets into precision-guided missiles, Fox reported Saturday (20th).
Iran airline Fars Air Qeshm, flight number QFZ-9950 departed Tehran International Airport on Tuesday (16th) at 9:33 a.m. local time and flew to an unknown destination, according to the data received. The Boeing 747 cargo jet landed in Damascus before continuing to Beirut, where it arrived just past 2: p.m.
The plane carried weapons components, including GPS devices to make precision-guided weapons in Iranian factories inside Lebanon, intelligence sources said. Western sources told Fox that the cargo was headed for secret Hizbullah sites near the Beirut airport in order to target Israel in the future.
This news is not a surprise to the Israelis. On September 27, in his address to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that Hizbullah was hiding three secret underground factories for the production of precision missiles near the Beirut international airport. These factories were constructed with the help of Iran, he said.
“Lebanon is becoming a factory for precision-guided missiles that threaten Israel. These missiles pose a grave threat to Israel, and we cannot accept this threat,” said Netanyahu.
(foxnews.com; worldisraelnews.com)
Irony? UN, Which Accuses Israel Of Security Abuses, Hires Israelis To Protect Its Staff
According to the United Nations, it is Israel’s aggressive approach to security that is one of the primary obstacles to peace in the Middle East. So it was with some surprise that Israelis learned last week that the United Nations had contracted out security for its personnel and assets in Africa to none other than Israeli security companies.
UN peacekeepers in Africa are regularly the targets of deadly violence. In fact, 61 UN peacekeepers were killed in Africa just last year, the highest annual death toll for the organization in 25 years. In light of this escalation, the UN put out a notice that it was looking to hire outside help. Of the five security firms that were eventually interviewed, three were Israeli, a clear indication of confidence in Israel’s ability to effectively deal with such threats.
It was Israeli firm MER that ultimately won the contract, worth $8 million, to protect UN peacekeepers in Africa for the next three years, with the option of a further five years.
The UN also signed a deal, worth $42 million, with the Israel company Odis, which develops and operates water treatment systems.
Given the usual tension between Israel and the UN, most people are unaware that the world body nevertheless is a regular customer of the Jewish state and its innovative start-ups. Israeli companies sold $52 million worth of goods and services to the UN last year alone.
(israeltoday.co.il)
Germany Sees Dramatic Rise In Citizenship Applications By British Jews
The number of Britons who have requested to regain German citizenship that was robbed from their families by the Nazis has risen from 43 in 2015 to almost 1,700 last year, with most of those eligible being British Jews.
Last year, following the 2016 referendum in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, the number climbed to 1,667 requests, according to figures released by the German Interior Ministry in response to a parliamentary question.
Under article 116-2 of the German constitution, former Germans who lost their citizenship on “political, racial or religious grounds” between the day Adolf Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933 and Germany’s surrender on May 8, 1945, can ask to have their citizenship reinstated.
According to the German government, the group “mainly includes German Jews” and members of critical political parties at the time.
The legal provision is also opened to descendants of those who were persecuted and sought safe haven abroad.
Germany is a member of the European Union, which the United Kingdom intends to leave following the Brexit referendum.
The report also comes following a poll last month that showed 40% of British Jews would “seriously consider emigrating” if Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister.
Apart from Brexit concerns, UK Jewry has been rocked by rising anti-Semitism, specifically in the main opposition party.
Religious hate crimes in England and Wales increased by 40% in the past year, according to a report from England’s Home Office. At least 12% of those attacks targeted Jews even though they make up only 0.5% of the population.
The crisis over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party – including its failure to fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-semitism until last month – has caused a major schism within its ranks and led Jews to express fears over their future in the country.
(timesofisrael.com)
