Tag: threat

My dear colleagues, due to my activities as a journalist, I am unfortunately deprived unlawfully of freedom in my own country. I have been sitting in prison for 17 months without any final verdict. Journalism is a universal profession. Wherever a journalist is arrested and thrown into prison for doing his or her job, all of the world's journalists are under threat.

Ground Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Shlomo (Sami) Turgeman this week presented the IDF future project to supply soldiers in the field with equipment capable of intercepting rockets, similar to the successful anti-rocket defense system, the Iron Dome.

For the United States, issuing attack threats in the manner of Hugo Chavez is not a convincing posture. I don’t know if the Israelis will find it reassuring; I suspect the Europeans and Iranians will find it annoying, and decide to ignore it.

Press TV, Iran's television network, broadcasting in English round-the-clock, on Sunday published an interview with Mark Glenn, of The Crescent and Cross Solidarity movement, who said that Israel is the only regime that “has threatened to take the entire world down in a nuclear Armageddon in the instance that her precious experiments in Jewish self-rule in the Middle East ceases to materialize.”

Over the years, in several of my columns in The Jewish Press, I have examined the critical bases of Israeli nuclear deterrence. Recently, in consequence of the growing threat of Iranian nuclearization, increasing attention has been directed toward pertinent issues of enemy rationality. With this in mind, the following three-part column will seek to explain the impact of "irrationality" on Israel's deterrence posture, and also the vital differences between prospective Iranian irrationality and "madness."

More than 1500 people died on the Titanic. As a result of the tragedy, out of date conventions and procedures were changed, navigational mistakes were identified and corrected, and the threat of ice was taken seriously—even in the era of modern ships. Walter Lord, in his seminal book on the disaster, A Night to Remember (1955), wrote: “Never again would men fling a ship into an ice field, heedless of warnings, putting their whole trust in a few thousand tons of steel and rivets. From then on Atlantic liners took ice messages seriously, steered clear, or slowed down. Nobody believed in the ‘unsinkable ship.’

The evacuated residents of Machpelah House in Hebron have erected a protest tent a few hundred meters from the Cave of the Patriarchs, in front of their empty property, which was locked by Border Police and will remain a closed military area until further notice, under order of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The Arab who sold them the house is held in a PA jail, as are members of his family.

60% of Jewish Israelis also agreed with the statement that only military force could halt Iran's nuclear program, while 37% disagreed; and when asked if they believed that Israel's home front will suffer equally whether it is Israel that attacks Iran or the United States, 63% answered in the affirmative.

The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America urge their member synagogues and member rabbis to respond to this time of formidable challenge for Jews around the world with programs of tefilla and divrei hitorerut, prayer and words of inspiration, in a manner appropriate to the severity of the situation.

It would appear to be ironic that when it comes to Iran, so-called "doves" favor a mutually assured destruction policy that threatens the deaths of millions over a preventive policy that targets military nuclear facilities. But it is not at all ironic, since such doves would be against actually carrying out the threat that is central to any credible policy of deterrence. For them, deterrence is a bluff—a hollow threat and the Iranians would see right through it.

Ex Mossad chief Meir Dagan often adds flare to his public statements. But don't let that fool you, he is a cool and reliable thinker, who undoubtedly was behind the sabotage efforts which caused Iran's nuclear program numerous mishaps and delays. But his flare and colorful speech are fodder for eager editors who misrepresent what the retired spy is actually saying. In fact, they often not only twist his words, they go as far as to invent new words for him, born by nothing more than wishful thinking and an agenda.

It may be only a "gotcha," but it probably reflects a reality nonetheless. In her attempt to bolster Jewish trust in President Obama's commitment to Israel's security in light of Iran's nuclear threats, Fla. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is also the DNC Chair and a close Jewish ally of the president, betrayed some of the pressures she's under in her own circle, because, let's face it, her fellow Jews don't trust her boss. And come the Passover seder, they'll probably give her (and husband Steve) an earful...

PM David Cameron: "I don’t believe that an Iranian nuclear weapon is just a threat to Israel...Not least because there are signs that the Iranians want to have some sort of intercontinental missile capability. So we have to be clear this is potentially a threat much more widely."

After the recent attacks on Israeli embassies in India and Georgia, Jewish institutions in the U.S. are asking a question that is much closer to home: Does Iran pose a local terror threat?

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy announced in response to an AP Exposé that his department will never conduct blanket surveillance of Muslims the way the New York Police Department had done in Newark, N.J., when he was the chief of police there. Mayor Bloomberg's response to the same AP story was: "We cannot slack in our vigilance. The threat was real. The threat is real. The threat is not going away."

Obama sought to assure Netanyahu that the United States was keeping the military option against Iran open, and "has Israel's back," and at the same time urged Israel to wait patiently for the sanctions and, possibly, diplomacy, to do their job. Netanyahu, for his part, concentrated on Israel's undeniable right to defend itself against Iran, and reiterated that Israel sees Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence. The problem is, both leaders had held precisely the same positions before and after their meeting. So why meet?

Canada.com reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he "appreciated" President Barack Obama's statements on Iran and was looking forward...

Disneyland has been placed on lockdown early Saturday morning, after a park employee The employees spotted a suspicious object at about 7:00 a.m., before the opening of the park. The object – which has not been described – was spotted in a tree near the park, according to police.

Ranking Islamic Jihad official Khader Adnan has ended his 65-day hunger strike after the State Prosecutor announced that under current circumstances, it would not...

Obama administration officials and US Congressman have suggested that the $2 billion in yearly military and economic aid to Egypt has been jeopardized by the Egyptian government's clampdown and prosecution of pro-democracy groups and individuals.

Israeli Defense Ministry: The test of a joint Israeli-American Arrow missile defense system "provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat."

Remarks come at the launch of political reform movement "Yesh Sicui"

Senator Diane Feinstein and CIA Director David Petraeus both mentioned that they met with Tamir Pardo earlier in the week.

A discussion about the cost of a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities that reflects skepticism and acquiesces to a nuclear-armed Iran ignores precedents, plays into Iran's hands, and threatens Israel's existence.

Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut was originally sentenced to 38 years in prison for attempted murder, assembling explosives, and membership in a terror organization.

General Martin Dempsey acknowledged that US and Israel see the threat differently.

The message reportedly said that Netanyahu "will be a victim just like Rabin."

Move made in recognition of the increasingly dangerous cyber warfare threat.

NATO ambassador: military action against Iran "direct threat" to Russia.

An Israeli hacker has claimed retaliation for the release of the personal information and credit card data of tens of thousands of Israelis by...