Author: Gavriel Dan

Gavriel Dan spent a number of years covering social movements in Israel, the wider middle east and Europe. He is considered an expert in embedding himself with various groups and causes in order to get accurate and rich information.
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India to Order Israeli “Spike” anti-tank missiles

Reports are surfacing that the plan for India to buy anti-Tank “Spike” missiles from Israel is back on. This is despite an earlier decision to terminate the deal in the hopes the Indian Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) would develop a home-grown version.

Both the India Times and Bloomberg News are reporting unnamed sources that the purchase proposal is now at a very advanced stage, but is awaiting Indian government approval.  No other details were given.

Given the urgent needs of the Indian Defense Establishment, the “Spike” Missiles are needed as a stop-gap purchase due to the home-grown version being at least three years away. The initial deal which was terminated in January assumed the DRDO would be able to develop their own version within the year.  The DRDO later backtracked opening the door for Raphael and Israel to resume the sale of “Spike” missiles.

 

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NETANYAHU TO HAMAS: “The IDF will respond with great force to these attacks.”

While speaking at the 9th Annual Galilee Conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu referred to the attacks on Israel by Hamas as well as the Syria situation.  The attacks saw countless mortars fired at Israel, with one landing next to a kindergarden.




Netanyahu said the following on the situation:

“Israel views with utmost gravity the attacks against it and its communities by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip.

The IDF will respond with great force to these attacks. Israel will exact a heavy price from anyone who tries to attack it, and we view Hamas as responsible for preventing such attacks against us.

Regarding Syria, I have made clear our red lines many times, and we will enforce them without compromise. We will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria and operate against us from there, and also not to transfer dangerous weapons from Syria to Lebanon, or to produce them in Lebanon.

I would like to reiterate: We are acting against an Iranian military presence anywhere on Syrian territory. An Iranian departure from southern Syria alone will not suffice. The long-range missiles that Iran is working to station in Syria will endanger us even beyond the range of several kilometers from southern Syria; therefore, Iran needs to leave Syria altogether. We are not party to understandings to the effect that we have agreed to less than this.

In any case, we will always act according to our security interests, with or without understandings. We will defend ourselves by ourselves, unified, united, and determined to ensure our security and our future.”



Meanwhile, Israel’s Airforce has struck targets in central Gaza in response to the mortar fire.

 

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HAMAS WAR: Nearly Hits Jewish School After Firing 28 Mortars

After weeks of riots on the border, Hamas has resorted to its old tactic of firing lots of mortars and rockets at Israel. One mortar landed next to a kindergarden. Thankfully no children were in the building at the time.

The IDF reports continuous shelling originiating from Hamas positions:




Following the attacks Tuesday morning, Israel’s Foreign Ministry tweeted a statement in response to the mortar fire, hinting that Israel would respond to the provocation.

Former Finance Minister MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) also responded to the attacks via Twitter Tuesday morning, saying that the IDF would use “necessary force” in Gaza, while calling on foreign leaders to condemn the terrorist attacks.

Responses to Lapid did not take long:

With tensions high in the Israel’s north, the IDF may have to contend with an increased threat of attacks coming from the Hamas controlled Gaza strip. The government has yet to finish their emergency meeting on the situation. However, it can be assumed the IAF will deliver a much harsher blow to Hamas and Islamic Jihad than before.



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Bibi Netanyahu: “Tehran is the main element undermining stability in the Middle East”

With the war of words between the United States and the Iranian regime heating up, Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized the destablizing nature of the Ayatollahs on the whole region in today’s cabinet meeting.

“The regime in Tehran is the main element undermining stability in the Middle East. The campaign against its aggression is not over; we are still in the midst of it.

We are working to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons. At the same time we are working against the establishment of an Iranian military presence against us; to this end we are also operating against the transfer of deadly weapons from Syria to Lebanon or their manufacture in Lebanon. All of these weapons are for use against the State of Israel and it is our right – based on the right of self-defense – to prevent their manufacture or transfer.”

The last point is key to understand the shifting lines of what has become a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.  Iranian bases in Syria were never the regime’s main strategy in isolating Israel.  The IRGC always understood that in order to really isolate the Jewish state it would have to deliver game changing weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.  This had been occurring since the 2006 Lebanon war.



Hezbollah has nearly 100,000 missiles aimed at Israel.  These are not Hamas style rockets, but rather many of them are serious Iranian precision guided missiles.  While stopping Iran from controlling Syria is extremely important, Netanyahu’s point about preventing the transference of weapons to Hezbollah underscores Iran’s shift back to Hezbollah as their main tool of war against Israel.

In fact, the main targets of attacks by the Israel Airforce (IAF) is now against weapons depots in Syria that are meant to service Iranian arms shipments into Hezbollah’s hands.

With Iran pressed by the Trump administration’s decertification of the JCPOA, Hezbollah now becomes the main angle for the regime in Tehran to attack back against Israel.  This only appears to be a matter of time.

 

 

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Nikki Haley Walks Out of UN During “Palestinian” Envoy’s Speech

Nikki Haley keeps on showing why she deserves to be the United States Ambassador to the UN.  After her speech at the UN, where she defended Israel’s use of force against “Palestinian” terrorists dressed as protestors, she decided to lodge her own protest against the “Palestinian” Authority by walking out while its envoy Riyad H. Mansour was speaking.




Mansour claimed Israel indiscriminately shot unarmed civilians and committed genocide.  Two claims proven false by Hamas’ own admission. Later he spoke with ABC outside saying:  “We condemn in the strongest term the atrocity by the Israeli occupying forces using this massive firepower against civilians who have the right to demonstrate peacefully, and they have been demonstrating peacefully.”

Mansour continued: “We demand that this action be stopped immediately, and we want those responsible to be brought to justice from the Israeli side because this is not allowed under the provisions of international law.”

Yet, Mansour’s claim the “Palestinians” were protesting “peacefully” has been proven wrong by Hamas’ own admission.

See the image in the Tweet below:

Here is just one of many examples of their “non-violent protest”:

and of course another example:

Nothing beats their own leadership admitting “these are not peaceful protests,”: