The Economist recently had a special report on Israel as we are now approaching Israel’s 60th birthday.
The report analyzed the situation and highlighted many of the challenges that we now face here.
A very interesting read and highly recommended!
Read it all here.
Hi everyone!
I’ve made a lot of changes to my blog. Gone are the days when I would post private information on an open blog. Especially since we’re dealing with a sensitive issue, that of service in the Israeli Army. So most of the things I’ve posted here are now gone. All such posts and others disclosing personal information will now posted at my new blog and from now on I will write about the things that I originally intended with this blog, namely politics and philosophy etc.
If you feel like you know me and you want to continue reading my private posts, please contact me.
Hope to see you at both of my blogs!
The Economist had an excellent review last week on the new book “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies” by Bryan Caplan. Here are two excerpts:
ANYONE who follows an election campaign too closely will sometimes get the feeling that politicians think voters are idiots. A new book says they are. Or rather, Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University, makes the slightly politer claim that voters systematically favour irrational policies. In a democracy, rational politicians give them what they (irrationally) want.
And:
In short, democracy is a mess. But dictatorship is worse. Mr Caplan observes that Winston Churchill’s aphorism—that democracy is “the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”—usually cuts the conversation short. He does not think it ought to. To curb the majority’s tendency to impose its economic ignorance on everyone else, he suggests we rely less on government and more on private choice.
Read the whole thing here.
In his victory speech, he pledged to focus his efforts on bolstering the military and Israel’s deterrent capability.
“I will invest all my energy and knowledge into strengthening the defense establishment and the Israel Defense Forces, and returning to Israel the power of deterrence,” Barak, an ex-army chief who was Israel’s most decorated soldier, told cheering supporters at the party’s headquarters in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Source: Haaretz
Read more about Ehud Barak in Wikipedia
There is a widespread belief in Israel these days, a belief that is shared by pretty much every officer I had a chance to listen to, that Syria will start a war this summer by attacking the Golan Heights, which according to the Syrian point of view is under Israeli occupation. Of course, no one knows for sure that such an attack will happen, or how it would. Given the Israeli [theoretical] superiority, my guess would be that the following scenario might take place:
1) Hamas, serving as a Syrian proxy, continues the barrage of rockets over Israeli towns close to the Gaza strip. As it is today, rockets are being fired daily and have so far claimed 2 civilian lives and caused half of the town Sderot, approximately 20,000 residents, to flee their homes. This will eventually force the Israeli government to react harshly by repeating the successful operation of spring 2002, Defensive Shield, which was carried out after a long series of terrorist attacks. Already now street signs can be seen calling for “Defensive Shield 2″ and even though the government has so far sufficed with air strikes, it will eventually have to re-enter the Gaza strip, crack down on Hamas and take control over the strategically important Philadelphi Route which separates the Gaza strip from Egypt. That in order to stop the ongoing smuggling of weapons to the Gaza strip.
2) With Israel being occupied with a large-scale operation in the Gaza strip, Syria might use the opportunity for an attack, using commando troops and missiles to try to quickly conquer the Golan Heights. Hezbollah, another Iranian-Syrian proxy, might renew the barrage of missiles that rained down on northern Israel last summer. Israel might suddenly be fighting on three fronts with Iran, the puppeteer, lurking in the shadows.
It is my belief that Syria doesn’t believe that it can withstand the Israeli Army for long, but will seek to manage a short campaign in order to “liberate” the Golan Heights and later have the UN step in to mediate a ceasefire. I believe it’s likely that many will view the Syrian attack as legitimate since, according to the UN, the Golan Heights are occupied Syrian territory. Such a victory would strengthen the Syrian President Assad’s relatively weak position, who is facing civil unrest. Syria likely feels the pressure to act against Israel after Hezbollah’s “successful” war last summer, where Israel’s deterrence was somewhat weakened.
Israel too might not be able to manage an extended war on three fronts, where missiles keep raining down from all directions. The cost in human lives and destroyed infrastructure, besides the high cost of managing a war (including call-up of reservists), might force the Israeli government to accept the loss of the Golan Heights. No doubt this would further weaken Israel’s standing both in the short and the long run.
I believe that this is one of the scenarios that the Israeli army has been preparing for since last summer’s war. There has been extensive training on the Golan Heights lately, including mainly armored divisions and infantry. Israel enjoys air superiority over Syria, but that proved to be ineffective in preventing the Hezbollah from firing thousands of rockets, and it is believed that Syria might try fighting using the same tactics. Highly trained commando units, conquering the Golan Heights, and advanced missiles raining down on all the major Israeli cities in a short campaign, might just prove to be the winning recipe. Israel would not be able to put its superior army to effective use and although the Syrian infrastructure would certainly be heavily damaged, it might still be, from Syria’s standpoint, be worth it.
Of course, nothing is certain and Syria might be too afraid to attack. They know that the price might prove to high and the Syrian President Assad might be overthrown in case of failure. Israel’s advantage is of course that it has been given ample time to prepare for an attack and that might be enough to intimidate Syria.
Benjamin Netanyahu Date published: 9/5/2007
Today, all free peoples have reason to celebrate. The much heralded thousand-year Reich lasted barely a dozen. Today, the British celebrate the defense of their liberty. The French, the Belgians, the Dutch, and many others celebrate the restoration of their liberty. And the Americans celebrate the salvation of liberty itself.
Read the rest of the article here.
Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier, military historian and influential military theorist. He is most famous for his military treatise On War (complete text available here).
Two of his most famous quotes, I feel, sum up the rationale behind the Israeli government’s decision to embark on a military campaign in Lebanon last summer. The problem is that the Israeli government only seemed to listen to one of them:
It is even better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past.
It would of course have been much better if they had also listened to:
No one starts a war–or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so–without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.
It’s past time we went to new elections. Israel could certainly benefit from a competent leadership in these troubled times..
Operation Entebbe is one of the most well-known military operations in recent history. Since anyone can read all about it at Wikipedia, I will only provide a brief summary:
On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight 139, originating from Tel Aviv, carrying 248 passengers, was hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans. Eventually they landed at the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, where they were received by the pro-Palestinian Ugandan President, Idi Amin.
The hijackers demanded the release of 40 Palestinians held in Israel and 13 other detainees held in other countries. If their demands wouldn’t be met, they would start killing hostages on June 1. The non-Jewish and non-Israeli passengers were released, but the Captain and the crew bravely decided to stay with the rest of the hostages who numbered 83 Jews/Israelis. In total there were 103 hostages that remained.
Israel would not negotiate with the hijackers, but managed to extend the deadline to July 4. On July 3, Israel launched a rescue operation after days of collecting intelligence and planning. They flew in secretly by cover of the night. Elite soldiers, mainly from the Sayeret Matkal, carried out the operation which proved to be a huge success. Only the commander, Yonatan Netanyahu (the brother of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), and three civilians died during the operation.
…
Last week we were having a lesson in “Moreshet Krav” (”Heritage of Battle”) and we were listening to a very impressive story by one of the elite soldiers who took part of the raid on the airport in Uganda. He gave a very personal account of the raid, what it felt like, what his task was and some other interesting aspects of the story. He told us about the white Mercedes that they borrowed from a civilian in Tel Aviv and spray-painted black in order to make it look like one of Idi Amin’s official cars. He also told us about an incident where the accompanying elite forces from the Paratroop Brigade, who were supposed to protect against Ugandan reinforcements, saw some Soviet MiG fighter aircrafts and since they were bored and heavily armed they started shooting at the MiGs which soon went up in flames. The official story was that they wanted to prevent the Ugandans from chasing after them while they were escaping. 
I asked him what it felt like to sit on the airplane during the last hour before landing in Uganda, in the middle of the night, before a likely battle with terrorists and Ugandan soldiers. He replied that they all slept until about half an hour before landing and that they never had time to think because they were checking equipment. He noted though that everyone was afraid during the operation itself. He said that there isn’t anyone who isn’t in such a situation, which seems reasonable to me.
On another note, he also retold the horrors of the Ma’alot school massacre, which predates Operation Entebbe, where 26 Israelis, including 21 school children, were killed by Palestinian terrorists. He took part of the operation as a member of the Sayeret Matkal. He explained that this was the massacre that forced the IDF to begin thinking seriously about dealing with hostage situations.
When I told my friend Dov about all the things that I had been listening to, he related another story to me. Apparently Idi Amin was trained by the IDF. As you can see in the picture (below), Idi Amin is wearing the IDF Jump Wings, for those who have completed the IDF Jump School.
The interesting aspect of the story is that our friend Amit’s father was the next one to jump after Idi Amin. Actually he had to push him out of the plane since Idi Amin was too afraid to jump, something that is common the first time. Small world, huh?
Update: I removed a few lines that I now consider too private
This is an awesome video showing Israel and its army to the song Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. Enjoy!
This photo is from Sweden, where I grew up and lived most of my life:
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