WarSclerotic

brian wang

February 14, 2018

US Tanks finally upgrading with Israel’s battle tested anti-missile system

The US Army’s 2019 budget will upgrade 261 M1 tanks, enough for three brigades, to carry Israeli-made Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) to counter anti-tank missiles. There is also an increase in artillery and equipment to deter Russia from attempting to overrun Eastern Europe or to fight in a longer, high-intensity war with North Korea.

The Trophy APS comes on top of other long-planned improvements in the M1 Abrams main battle tank, including new infrared sights, reinforced armor, and improved horsepower and electrical power to handle all the upgrades.

Trophy has been operational on Israeli tanks since 2009. Russia has had various active protection systems on its tanks since the 1980s.

The US Army has selected the Israeli Trophy APS anti-missile system for the M1 Tank and other military vehicles.

The Trophy system, designed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, is the only APS in testing that has seen combat and actually defeated advanced anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) threats.

“We intend to field those to first responding units, and we will eventually field them throughout the force for the entire total Army — Guard, Reserve and active,” Milley said.

Trophy intercepts and destroys incoming missiles and rockets with a shotgun-like blast. Trophy was the product of a ten-year collaborative development project between the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries’ Elta Group. Its principal purpose is to supplement the armor of light and heavy armored fighting vehicles.

Called Active Protection Systems, or APS, the technology uses sensors and radar, computer processing, fire control technology and interceptors to find, target and knock down or intercept incoming enemy fire such as RPGs and Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, or ATGMs.

The sensors detect the incoming threat and a computer controlled shotgun blasts the missile.

Source: US Tanks will be upgraded with Israel’s battle tested anti-missile system | NextBigFuture.com

Source: Israel destroys Hamas tunnel following rocket fire – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

 A general view of the interior of a cross-border attack tunnel dug from Gaza to Israel, near Kissufim, seen on January 18, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS/JACK GUEZ)

The Israel Air Force struck an underground network of terrorist tunnels in the Gaza Strip overnight on Sunday, after a rocket launched from the Hamas-run enclave struck southern Israel, the IDF announced.

It was the second Hamas tunnel in Gaza to be struck in as many days, and the sixth tunnel destroyed since late October.

“Hamas is responsible for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip, above and below ground,” the statement read. “The army will continue to act to ensure security for the citizens of Israel using all means at its disposal.”

Earlier on Sunday, incoming rocket sirens were activated in communities in the Sha’ar Hanegev region bordering the northern Gaza Strip. A rocket fell in open territory near the city of Sderot causing no damage or injuries.

According to Palestinian reports, jets fired some 10 missiles towards the Hamas tunnel. The tunnel was located in an agricultural area near the destroyed Dahiniye airport, east of Rafah in the southern part of the Strip close to the Israeli border. No casualties were reported.

The previous night, a home in the Sha’ar Hanegev community of Or Haner was directly hit by a rocket causing damage but no injuries to the family inside.

The rocket was launched several hours after four IDF soldiers were wounded – two seriously, including a combat engineer officer, and two moderately – after an improvised explosive device detonated against their military jeep as they patrolled the border fence south of the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon.

The IDF later confirmed that it had carried out large-scale strikes against 18 terrorist targets belonging to Hamas, including an attack tunnel in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City that was dug toward Israeli territory.

“Harming IDF soldiers constitutes a grave terrorist [attack],” Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, the head of the southern command, said Sunday afternoon at a military ceremony. “We will not abide by this reality of using the land around the fence for terrorism.”

“Anyone seeking to undermine Israel’s security will be met with a determined response. We have considerable power and will not hesitate to exercise it as needed, despite our desire to maintain stability and avoid escalation.”

While the security establishment does not believe that Hamas currently seeks another war, the situation is fragile, especially given the worsening conditions in the Strip. Gazans have been demonstrating on the border fence with Israel each Friday throughout recent months and the army believes that Hamas is using these weekly demonstrations as a cover to carry out terrorist attacks.

The explosive device that detonated on Saturday had been hidden inside a Palestinian flag and placed near the fence during last Friday’s demonstrations.

“This is further proof of the utilization of disturbances near the fence by Hamas and other terrorist groups as cover for terrorism. Anyone seeking to undermine Israel’s security will meet a determined response based on intelligence and aerial, land and naval capabilities,” Zamir warned.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed to eliminate those responsible for the attack, which he said was carried out by the Popular Resistance Committees organization, a group comprising several terrorist groups.

“Until we eliminate them, the score remains unsettled,” he said. “It will take two days, a week, or two weeks. We’ll eliminate anyone behind the attack’s execution.”

By KramFreedom – on February 17, 2018

The U.S Jewish Establishment’s War Against Israel

In many ways it should be the best of times for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after successfully surviving eight grueling years of the pro-jihad Obama administration. Israel’s economy is booming. Its tech sector (along with Silicon Valley) is the envy of the world. Israel’s per capita GDP has just surpassed Britain, France, and Japan. Israel’s unemployment rate is at an impressive four percent. The once-isolated Jewish state has relations with over 150 countries. Israel’s cooperation with its Arab neighbors, including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, has never been stronger. Israel’s military, by most accounts, is the strongest and most advanced in the Middle East. Prime Minister Netanyahu is now working with President Donald Trump, who has asserted himself as the most pro-Israel President ever.

Unfortunately, the incredible accomplishments of Israel’s greatest-ever Prime Minister have not softened the disdain that much of the Jewish establishment in the United States has toward him, and even toward Israel itself. The Jewish left, which is represented by organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the Soros-funded J-Street and the New Israel Fund, have become increasingly hostile to Israel, as Israel has rapidly moved away from its socialist roots. Many of these organization’s talking points are expressed by disgusting leftists including Peter Beinart, Noam Chomsky, Bernie Sanders, and Norman Finkelstein. They will go out of their way to slander Israel for defending itself, and for its unwillingness to commit national suicide by allowing a terror state to be created on its doorstep.

The left-leaning U.S Jewish community, for the most part, has no conception of what it is like to live in the most dangerous neighborhood on the planet. They don’t understand the geopolitical issues, the security issues, or the urgencies that can come when living in Israel. When Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely expressed her frustration about the U.S Jewish community’s lack of understanding about life in Israel, she stated that “people that never send their children to fight for their country, most of the Jews don’t have their children serving as soldiers, going to the Marines, going to Afghanistan, or to Iraq. Most of them are having quite convenient lives. They don’t feel how it feels to be attacked by rockets, and I think part of it is to actually experience what Israel is dealing with on a daily basis.” For the most part, Hotovely is absolutely correct. As a result, many U.S Jews are growing uncomfortable with Israel, and more specifically, with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party. 2017 was a contentious year between Israel and the U.S Jewish community, and much of the blame went to Netanyahu.

In 2016, Donald Trump announced that he would run for U.S President. A significant majority of the Jewish community in the United States despise the pugnacious Trump, and spent billions of dollars trying to keep him out of office. Many accused Trump (and still do) of anti-Semitism, and subsequently voted for Hillary Clinton in overwhelmingly large numbers. On January 20, 2017, President Trump took office. No one outside of the U.S was happier than Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu (and his cabinet) knew that it would be much better for Israel to deal with a President Donald Trump than with a President Hillary Clinton. Clinton would no doubt have appeased the Democrat Party’s growing radical-left constituents, who despise Israel intensely.

Many U.S Jews are infuriated with Netanyahu for having the audacity to support a President who is a genuine friend to his country, and who also conflicts with their liberal values. In December 2017, President Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and promised to move the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Many Jews in the U.S were mortified by this decision. Members of the biased media elite such as Thomas Friedman were appalled. Friedman, who is a Trump hater and a long-time critic of Prime Minister Netanyahu, complained that Trump “gave away the crown jewel.” J-Street condemned the decision, as did 100 Jewish scholars. Jewish politicians such as Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and California’s Diane Feinstein also criticized the decision. In Israel, the response could not have been more different. Trump has become revered in Israel. Trump’s approval rating among Israel’s Jews is between 70 -79 percent, compared to a 25 percent approval rating among the U.S Jews. The U.S Jewish community has also accused Netanyahu of expanding settlement activities due to his friendship with Trump.

In June 2017, Netanyahu received another slap from the U.S Jewish establishment when the Israeli government decided to suspend a plan to build an egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall, and would only allow Orthodox Jewish law for conversions. Many prominent U.S Jews were outraged, including longtime supporters of Israel such as Miami’s Isaac Fisher. Fisher threatened to end his significant charitable work in Israel. Daniel Gordis, a leading voice for Conservative Judaism, urged American Jews to cancel their El Al tickets and fly Delta or United. He also proposed the withholding of donations to Israeli hospitals, so that “they start running out of money and begin to falter.” Jewish politicians such as Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, and Jerry Nadler slammed the decision. The situation had deteriorated to such an extent that the Israel lobbying group AIPAC was forced to fly to Israel and call an emergency meeting with Netanyahu, after being inundated with irate phone calls from AIPAC donors.

In 2018, Netanyahu decided to deport the 40,000 African migrants who have arrived in Israel over the last several years. The migrants arrived in Israel illegally from Sudan and Eritrea. As in Europe, the migrants have created havoc in the tiny Jewish state. Crime in South Tel Aviv has skyrocketed, and it has essentially turned into a dangerous slum. Many in Tel Aviv are afraid even to enter the dreadful neighborhoods inhabited by African migrants. In February, the Netanyahu government gave the migrants 60 days’ notice to leave Israel or face jail.

Predictably, this decision generated significant opposition from Jews all over the United States. Many Jews (from the comfort zones of Manhattan, Bethesda, Los Angeles, and others) had the audacity to compare African migrants in Israel to Jews trying to escape the Holocaust in Europe. The ADL’s CEO Johnathan Greenblatt compared the plight of the African migrants in Israel to that of the “dreamers” in the United States. The Soros-funded New Israel Fund organized protests in Tel Aviv. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Reform movement in the United States, indicated that it would be “at odds with Jewish values” to deport illegal migrants. 850 U.S rabbis and cantors signed a petition to support settling the migrants in Israel. Many other liberal Jewish organizations are livid with Netanyahu because he will not allow South Tel Aviv to turn into East London or North Marseilles.

Then on February 13, 2018, the left-leaning Jewish community in the U.S received some great news. The Israeli Police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for breach of trust and bribery. They have been salivating over the idea that Netanyahu might resign or even go to jail. They will call Netanyahu corrupt, which is an interesting accusation against the Israeli Prime Minister given the fact that vast majority of the U.S establishment supports the truly corrupt and immoral Democrat Party. In Netanyahu’s place they would love to see a compliant Israeli such as Yair Lapid or Isaac Herzog, who would no doubt embrace their policies of Liberal insanity for the state of Israel. If they succeed, it will be one of the greatest tragedies in Israel’s history.

Source: Rocket fired from Gaza hits Negev home without exploding – Israel Hayom

Residents of a kibbutz in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel had a narrow escape Saturday night when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip directly hit one of the homes without exploding.

Even though the residents of the house were at home when the rocket hit, no one was reported hurt. The home, however, sustained extensive damage, and several people in the vicinity were treated for shock.

Yiftach, a neighbor who helped the family carry their things to another neighbor’s house for the night, noted that “This isn’t new. On one hand, in our area, we’re used to it. It’s scary, and it affects the kids, but we chose to live here. We love this place and we’ll continue to live here, even with all the mess.”

“Tomorrow,” he added, “we should be back to our regular routine, more alert, but other than that, we’ll go on. It’s been a part of our daily lives for several years now.”  Shaar Hanegev Regional Council Spokeswoman Adi Meiri

Another neighbor said, “There was a Color Red [siren]. We didn’t manage to make it into the safe room in time. Only one of our daughters made it there – the other two were sleeping in their beds, and while we were running, we heard a loud boom.”

A third resident, who lives a few houses away from the rocket impact site, said, “I heard a ‘boom’ that was louder than usual. I saw a lot of military vehicles and an ambulance.”

“It all started with the incident with the flag and the explosive device and now the sides are testing each other and it spilled over into our kibbutz,” he said, referring to an incident earlier on Saturday in which a bomb planted on the Gaza border and attached to a flag detonated and wounded four Israeli soldiers, two of them seriously. “There is definitely going to be another round [of fighting],” he added.

Kibbutz resident Natalie said, “I was in the car and suddenly I saw smoke. Everything has been getting worse lately. Within a month or so it’ll get serious, maybe even less.”

Source: Trump to host PM Netanyahu at White House next month – Israel Hayom