Category: Israel

About Damn Time!

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We are finally starting to see public questioning of the extensive subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox Heredim in Israel:

Chaim Amsellem was certainly not the first Parliament member to suggest that most ultra-Orthodox men should work rather than receive welfare subsidies for full-time Torah study. But when he did so last month, the nation took notice: He is a rabbi, ultra-Orthodox himself, whose outspokenness ignited a fresh, and fierce, debate about the rapid growth of the ultra-religious in Israel.

“Torah is the most important thing in the world,” Rabbi Amsellem said in an interview. But now more than 60 percent of ultra-Orthodox men in Israel do not work, compared with 15 percent in the general population, and he argued that full-time, state-financed study should be reserved for great scholars destined to become rabbis or religious judges.

“Those who are not that way inclined,” he said, “should go out and earn a living.”

In reaction, he was ousted from his own ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, whose leaders vilified him with such venom that he was assigned a bodyguard. The party newspaper printed a special supplement describing Rabbi Amsellem as “Amalek,” the biblical embodiment of all evil.

Actually, “Amelek” means more than the embodiment of evil.

The Torah says that they are to be killed, the men, women, children, their animals, etc.  There is an affirmative requirement that they and their families be murdered, and that their works be destroyed.

This is what happens when you f%$# with somone’s welfare check, I guess.

As an aside, one of the towering figures of Judaism in the past 500 years, the Baal Shem Tov, worked digging lime, as a kosher butcher, and later running an inn, and it is ludicrous to suggest, as the Heredim do, that there are tens of thousands of people whose scholarship is so valuable that they cannot be allowed to do productive work.

Israeli MoD Approves JSF Buy

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Israel’s Ministry of Defense has approved a purchase of 20 F-35 fighters, though the report of a price of “only” $96 million a copy, is clearly a blivit,* as evidenced by this report of that 20 JSFs will cost about $2.75 billion, which gives a price of $137.5 million each, which is closer, but probably still less than, the cost of the aircraft.

In any case, while the MoD has approved, there is significant resistance from the full cabinet, with Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz expressing significant concerns about Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision.

It’s clear that both Lockheed Martin and the DoD were desperate to get this sale, which explains why Israel Aerospace Industries got a contract to build 800 wingsets for the stealthy fighter, which comes close to Israel being paid to take the plane.

They want a stamp of approval from a country that is not already a partner in the F-35 consortium, and Israel gives them more market credibility than almost any other non NATO nation.

*10 pounds of sh%$ in a 5 pound bag.

Israel’s Iron Dome Completes Testing

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Launcher

Israel has completed tests on its Iron Dome defense system, successfully intercepting rockets and mortar targets:

Iron Dome is developed and produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. During the final testS in Southern Israel, Iron Dome successfully engaged salvos of live rockets and mortar shells. With participation of teams from the IAF Iron Dome air defense battalion, the system repeatedly engaged rocket salvos and mortar shells in increasingly complex scenarios.

The system demonstrated effective detection and intercept of targets above and below cloud cover, while maintaining “keep-out zones” for integration with air traffic over the protected area. Iron Dome detected, tracked and selectively engaged only those targets presenting a threat to the area being protected. This feature – unique to the Israeli active defense system – is attributed to the multimode radar (MMR) and battle management and weapon control (BMC) system developed specially for the Iron Dome.

Obviously the first two locations for deployment would be on the Gaza border, near Sderot, and the Lebanese border.

Then again, it may not be deployed, because it is so damn expensive:

Yet, the IDF is reluctant to buy it, grumbling over the cost of each Iron Dome intercept, estimated at nearly $50,000, compared to the estimated $500 cost of a Palestinian rocket. Press reports put Iron Dome development costs at $250 million, with each battery costing about $50 million.

Truth be told, I think that the number for a Katyusha or Kassam is a bit high, and the mortar round is probably under %59.

There are also rumors that the system was actually developed for export to Singapore, with defense to be conducted by installations of land based Phalanx Gatling guns. (See also here for more on export customers, as well as a potential co-installation with Spike-NLOS SSMs, which I assume are for counter-battery fire)

Once again, we have missile defense running into a very simple brick wall: It’s something on the order of 100 times more expensive than the threat it is intercepting.

OK, This is Jim Crow Bigotry in Israel

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No other way to explain this.

An Arab man in Israel, Sabbar Kashur, hooked with a unnamed Jewish woman in Israel, and told her that he was Jewish in a successful attempt get into her pants.

When she discovered that he had lied to her about his religion, she filed rape charges, and today, he was convicted of rape by deception and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Men lie to get into women’s pants:

  • I’ll respect you in the morning.
  • I’ve never been married.
  • I’m a stockbroker.
  • This car is a loaner, my Porsche is in the shop.
  • It’s just heat rash.

Certainly, I do not think that what Kashur did is right, but it is clearly not criminal either.

I cannot see any reason behind the fact that the Israeli prosecutors and the Israeli judiciary pursued this as a criminal matter beyond bigotry.

I Suppose that I Must Comment on This

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Helen Thomas has resigned as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers.

In an interview, she said:

Thomas remarked in video posted to RabbiLive.com that Jews in Israel should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.”

Thomas has never made a secret of her Lebanese-American background, and I think that anyone with a bit of skin in this game, myself included, can be a bit nuts, but the statement here is wrong on a number of levels:

  • It appears to be a call for ethnic cleansing.
  • About 60% of the Jews in Israel came from the Arab world, Iran, India, Etc.*

Needless to say, while I respect Thomas’ contributions to journalism, I do not appreciate when anyone sounds like Meir Kahane.†

I’ll miss her at press conferences

The tragedy is that Pat Buchanan still has a job.

(on edit)
I think that a refreshing bit of perspective comes from [url=http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/06/helen-thomas-affair]Kevin Drum[/url]:

Helen Thomas is retiring. Thank God. On a substantive level, this is a good thing. Her remarks about Israel were obviously odious and she’s doing everyone a favor by stepping down. Equally important, though, maybe this means we don’t have to spend the next week listening to every windbag in the country rant on about Thomas’s remarks, using them as an excuse to grind every axe ever invented and suck media attention away from actually important stories. Of which, you might have noticed, we have quite a few these days.

Say what you will about Thomas, she really was never a part of the pundit class.

* They are generally referred to as Sephardic, but this is a misnomer, as Sephardic Jews trace their origins back to the Iberian peninsula. Jews from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, India, etc. are more accurately referred to as “oriental” Jews.
†Let me google that for you.

Does Jordan River Water Make You Stupid?

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Because it does appear that stupidity is way too common in the Middle East.

Case in point: After 9 deaths, and a major propaganda victory, Hamas is refusing the supplies that the ships were trying to deliver:

Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas — which controls the territory — has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.

Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.

Does this place make people stupid-crazy, or is it that the people who aren’t stupid-crazy simply leave?

I’m just wondering, because there has been an endemic of stupid over the past 72 hours or so.

On the Legality of Executing a Blockade in International Waters

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It’s come up in the comments, and Galrahn at Information Dissemination, who is arguably one of the most knowledgeable about things Naval out there, nails the issues of maritime law when he says that, “Israeli Actions Are Stupid, But Legal.

He notes that armed stop and seize operations in international waters have always been legal, they are routine operations in US anti-drug operations, for example, and Israel had declared a blockade, and a blockade area:

Under international law, the consensus of the maritime attorney’s I have spoken to is that the boarding operation by Israel was legal. The coast of Gaza has been under maritime blockade by Israel, a blockade that was well known – indeed running the maritime blockade for political purposes was the specific intent of the protesters. It is why the press had been reporting all week that the situation was likely leading towards a confrontation. Is anyone surprised that Israel had an established maritime blockade and enforced that maritime blockade? I’m certainly not, Israel made clear all week that the flotilla would not be allowed to pass.

The maritime blockade is a result of the war between Israel and Hamas. Ones political position on that ongoing war is completely irrelevant to the reality that the maritime blockade was established. Knowledge of the maritime blockade by the protesters is also not in debate, and neither is knowledge the flotilla intended to violate the blockade – they made this clear themselves in the press. Once the flotilla made it clear in the press they intended to run the maritime blockade, according to international law, and even US law, the flotilla was considered to be in breach by attempting to violate the blockade.

………

The truly scary part is that under international laws governing maritime blockades, Israel could have outright sank the ship instead of board it as an alternative enforcement of the maritime blockade, and Israel still been within their rights under international law. Such an action could have led to war with Turkey, but even if the ship would have been sunk, Turkey would still be on the wrong end of international law in this situation. Turkey will likely find plenty of populist political support in NATO countries over these events, but if they attempt to escalate they may find that support is fleeting among their NATO allies.

(emphasis mine)

It is that last paragraph that makes it clear just how f%$#ed up everything is.

You can argue over whether the blockade is an illegal mass punishment of the population (illegal), or an attempt to deny war materiel to Hamas (legal), but the execution of a stop/search/seize order in a declared blockade zone even if that zone includes international waters, is clearly legal.

What an Unbelievable Clusterf%$#

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The Israeli Defense Forces have intercepted a convoy of ships intending to run the Israeli blockade on Gaza, and at least 9 deaths have been reported.

Considering that at least one of the passengers in the convoy was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, it looks like this an absolute disaster for Israel, and a victory for the “Free Gaza Movement”.

My first thought is that, on the part of Israel, “It is worse than a crime: it is a mistake,”* because there will be significant negative repercussions for years on Israel’s foreign policy and public diplomacy.

It’s particularly problematic because the ship was Turkish flagged, and many of the passengers and crew were Turkish, which will serve to further worsen relations with the only majority-Islamic nation which has warm diplomatic relations with Israel.

If there is something that people on both sides of the Israel/Palestinian issue can agree on, it is that Benyamin Netanyahu’s fascination with “looking tough” for his personal political advantage has always resulted in serious damage to the interests of Israel.

The “Free Gaza Movement” is not friend of Israel, nor would I expect them to be, and I think that a significant portion of their leadership has little interest in any potential de-escalation. If this were a significant interest of theirs, they would not have refused to bring letters and a package to Giliad Shalit, but realistically, work toward de-escalation is not really a big consideration for any of the 3rd party non-state actors who choose to involve themselves in the politics of this matter. (AIPAC can go Cheney themselves)

Still, I wonder how much the old saying, “luck is a residue of design,”† might figure in the events of this morning in terms of the planning of this convoy.

Certainly, if the report that the boarding party was sent in carrying just pistols and paint ball guns‡ is true, there are any number of people involved in this operation who should be fired by the IDF forthwith.

On a related note, I have had a back and forth on by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS, regarding whether the interception itself was illegal, since it took place in international water, and I have concluded that with a formally announced blockade, it probably was.

The interdiction of shipping with armed boarding parties in international waters is routine for both drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Still, it’s a stupid thing, and the deaths are senseless.

*Joseph Fouché
†Branch Rickey
‡And the source (Debka) is a thoroughly unreliable one.

Nobody Goes There Anymore, It’s Too Crowded

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It appears that after a few years of being the government in Gaza, Hamas is getting complaints that they have sold out:

Hamas, the Palestinian faction viewed by many in the West as a nest of terrorists and Islamic hard-liners, is battling a curious new epithet: moderate.

Fifteen months after a punishing Israeli offensive failed to dislodge Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip, rival resistance groups and some former supporters say the organization has become too political, too secular and too soft.

“People in the street say Hamas has changed,” said Abu Ahmed, spokesman for the military wing of Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group in Gaza that complained recently that Hamas had arrested four of its militants as they tried to attack Israeli soldiers near the border. “They’re paying a price for that. People need to know that Hamas is still committed to the resistance.”

You know, when I was in college, I had a number of friends who loved obscure rock bands.

If the band released a record, and it achieved any success, these folks would immediately condemn the band as having “sold out”.

I guess that they were upset because it meant that the band was no longer their secret.

I find this amusing, because this seems to be a very similar phenomenon: success, in this case defined as running the Gaza strip, is “selling out”.

It’s nice to see that some stupidities are universal.

I Call Bullsh%$ on Benyamin Netanyahu

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It appears that Israel is claiming that Syria transferred Scud missiles to Hezbollah.

This would not make sense. While the Scud is mobile, and hard to detect when it is deployed, it is a liquid fueled missile that uses caustic fuels and oxidizers (Kerosene or UDMH as fuel and RFNA as an oxidizer) that requires a significant amount of infrastructure to maintain and keep at ready status.

Having something like this, as opposed to smaller solid fueled rockets that can be stored and maintained without a fixed base and fueling location, is akin to painting a big target on whatever facilities are used to maintain the missiles.

Honestly, I think that this something ginned up by Netanyahyu for either domestic political consumption, or as a way to push back against Obama on the housing units in Jerusalem.

Of course, I could be wrong, as I was on the Syrian nuclear facility.

I would note that the entire Jerusalem problem is one of Netanyahu’s own making. He has a history of doing this to Democratic presidents, so I do not buy that the timing of the construction permit announcement was just a “bureaucratic oversight” either.

OK, So It Wasn’t Kinky Sex

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Well, when I wrote about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a major actor in the military wing of Hamas in Syria, I suggested that it was not a result of is day job, where he worked in textiles, and gave the three alternatives as the Mossad, a dispute internal to Hamas, and the consequence of some sort of kinky sex.

Well, I think that we can rule out the last two:

Dubai police released names and photographs of 11 suspects they say took part in the murder of a senior Hamas official there last month, and separately detained two Palestinians in connection with the killing.

The suspects, who entered the emirate from a number of European Union countries, carried out the assassination, Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said at a press conference today. The suspects included six British passport holders, three Irish, one German and one French, Tamim said. Dubai will submit their names to Interpol for arrest warrants, he said.

Hamas would not have used so many people under different passports.

It’s odd though that Hamas was so caught off guard by this.

Hmmm…………Who Could it Be?

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Could it be ………… the Mossad?

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was one of the founders of Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and was believed to be a major conduit of weapons to Gaza.

On January 19, he was found dead in his hotel room, and authorities in Dubai are saying that he was done by a hit squad with “European passports”, and these people were already out of the country before the body was discovered.

Among other oddities: His bodyguard was not with him because the plane was full, which is kind of a “WTF” thing.

Additionally, the cause of death is unclear, with reports, according to the Wiki, of suffocation, electrocution (unlikely, it’s a stupid way to off someone), and, “a heart-attack inducing drug”.

What is interesting (quoting the Wiki) is just how much Hamas is not on the same page about this:

Hamas officials made diverse and conflicting statements regarding the circumstances of their leader’s death. On the day of the incident, Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that he died of terminal cancer in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

On 29 January, top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said that it was possible that members of the entourage of Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau were involved in Mabhuh’s death. Landau was visiting the United Arab Emirates at the time for a renewable energy conference. Landau dismissed the claim, stating that his delegation was in Abu Dhabi, some 120 km from Dubai, and was escorted by 8-man UAE security team at all times.

Also on 29 January, Hamas’ deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk said, “Mossad agents are those who assassinated al-Mabhouh”.

On 2 February, Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan said that Palestinian Authority security forces might have been involved in the death. He stated that “The Palestinian Authority security forces are pursuing [our] fighters and they have killed dozens of them since 1994.” The same day, Haaretz reported that a Hamas investigation suggested Mabhuh was assassinated by agents of an Arab government, and that al-Mabhouh was wanted by Egypt and Jordan.

Seeing as how his “day job” was running a textile firm, I see only four possibilities, the Mossad, some sort of internecine warfare amongst members of Hamas, some sort of natural death while in a sexually compromised position (which would explain the absence of body guards as well as the confusion from Hamas), or the textile industry in Syria is more cut-throat than I previously understood.

My money is on the Mossad.

That whole “silk merchant gone bad” thing ……… not so much.

Urban Air Mule Demonstrates Hover

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Looks a bit Buck Rogers

So, the Israeli ducted fan cargo UAV concept has finally left the ground.

This appears to have validated the basic control systems, as well as the software.

It appears that the most likely route to success will be on an eventual autonomous ambulance (bottom pic), particularly since the ducted fan arrangement eliminates those pesky rotors which can strike buildings and people.

Here is my original post on this.

Israel Looking at Adapting ATBM to AAM Use

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Python 5 and Derby


Stunner with 2nd stage


Rafael’s video Pr0n, H/t ELP Defens(c)e Blog

Israel is looking at using its Stunner anti-missile interceptor as a starting point for follow-ons to their Python 5 and Derby missiles.

The Python is a 6″ diameter short range (20+ km) infrared guided dogfight missile, and the Derby is a slightly lengthened version active radar guided version with with an ogive nose, and other aerodynamic cleanups (and possibly a longer motor) to achieve a range of about 50km, so replacing both of these with one derivative of another missile is certainly in the realm of possibility.

On the basis of the pictures here, and not much else, it appears that the 2nd stage of the Stunner is about the same size as the Python/Derby.

I’m not sure how much would be gained by developing a Python replacement on this platform, the as the missile already has excellent kinematics, as shown by the marketing video, though marketing videos should always be taken with a bit of a grain of salt.

That being said, given the Stunner’s configuration, the 2nd stage has a dual pulse motor, the 1st stage that would not be carried in an air launched version, could give significant increases in range and lethality for any potential Derby successor.

Here is my earlier post on the Stunner missile.

Israel Drops V-22

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The IDF is looking at the CH-53K instead.

It makes sense, really. Israel is the size of New Jersey, and the CH-53 is much more flexible, and the difference in speed does not make much of a difference.

Let’s roll the numbers

V-22 Ch-53K
Speed 450 km/h 315 km/h
Payload 6,800 kg 15,900 kg
Range 1,627 km 841 km
Cabin Size (lxwxh) 7.3m x 1.8m x 1.8m 9.1m x 2.7m x 2.0m

Since going from one corner of Israel to the other is on the order of 400 km, the CH-53 K can cover the entire country, carrying more, and carrying more internally.

Additionally, the V-22 costs about $70 million as versus about $30 million for the CH-53K.

With a reduced payload and supplemental tanks, something like a special forces insertion is going to have similar range, and the larger internal payload allows the on an offloading of larger vehicles more quickly.

Finally, in a “hot” landing zone, the V-22, with its heavily loaded props/rotors, is more susceptible to vortex ring state (basically a stall in a rotary winged aircraft), and has to descend more slowly, increasing vulnerability to ground fire.

It’s a no brainer for Israel not to buy the V-22.

Come to think of it, it may be a no brainer for everyone not to buy the V-22.

Economics Update

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Chicago Fed Index Chart Pr0n H/t Calculated Risk


Your Moment of Zen

We have some dueling indices today, with the ATA Truck Tonnage Index falling, and the Chicago Fed reporting that its Midwest Manufacturing Index rose in September to levels approaching where they were prior to the recession.

Overseas, we have the Bank of Israel leaving its benchmark rate at .75%, German consumer confidence falling, and the South Korean economy growing at its fastest pace in 7 years, so it’s more mixed signals.

We are seeing an increased risk appetite among investors, which has driven treasuries lower, and pushed their yields up, though a statement by an official in the Chinese central bank that China should diversify its currency holdings, may have been a factor too.

In real estate, home prices in California fell by 7.3% from a year ago, largely on increased foreclosure sales.

In energy, oil fell again, and the dollar rose from this year’s lows, which would indicate a reduction in risk appetite, which is kind of counter to the results with the US treasuries above.

Finally, watch the video, it’s funny, in an, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” way, and one note to the non-Brits, “Freddy” is Sir Fred Goodwin of the £ multimillion pension.