Green Energy
Newsmax:
Israel Preparing for 'Large-scale War' — Cable
Sunday, 02 Jan 2011
Israel's army chief told a U.S. Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables showed on Sunday.
"I am preparing the Israeli army for a large scale war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite," Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying in a cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv.
The document, dated Nov. 15, 2009, was quoted Sunday in Norwegian by Oslo-based daily Aftenposten, which said it had obtained WikiLeaks' entire cache of 251,187 leaked U.S.embassy cables.
"The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defence," Ashkenazi told the U.S. delegation led by Democrat Ike Skelton, the cable showed.
The army chief lamented that Iran has some 300 Shihab rockets that can reach Israel and stressed that the Jewish state would have only between 10 and 12 minutes warning in case of an attack.
However, it was Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed the most acute threat, he cautioned.
According to the quoted cable, Hezbollah is thought to have more than 40,000 rockets, many of which are believed capable of reaching deep into Israel.
U.S. officials meanwhile reportedly estimate the militant group has acquired an arsenal of around 50,000 rockets.
A 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel killed 1,200 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
And in his comments made nearly a year after Israel on Dec. 27, 2008, launched the deadly Gaza war, Ashkenazi said "Israel is on a collision course also with Hamas, which rules Gaza."
"Hamas will have the possibility to bombard Tel Aviv, with Israel's highest population concentration," he was quoted as saying.
The Gaza war — a response to hundreds of rockets fired into the Jewish State — killed some 1,400 mainly civilian Palestinians and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. It ended on Jan. 18, 2009.
Israel had been harshly criticised for putting civilians at risk during fighting in the densely populated Gaza Strip.
However, in the cable leaked Sunday Ashkenazi is quoted saying Israel next time will not accept "any restrictions on warfare in populated areas," and insisted the army had never intentionally attacked civilian targets.
- North Korea Arms Plane ‘bound For Hezbollah’
Times Online: James Hider, Jerusalem An aircraft full of weapons seized in Bangkok last year was heading from North Korea to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, and Hamas, the Palestinian group, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, said yesterday....
- Hamas And The Broad Side Of A Barn Defense
Boston.com (h/t Jawa) Hamas defends rocket attacks on Israel, rejects UN push for new investigation By Associated Press January 28, 2010 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza’s Hamas rulers yesterday defended their actions during the war last winter, saying...
- Rockets From Hizballaland Again ...are Things Sliding Towards?
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Guerrillas in Lebanon rocketed northern Israel on Wednesday for the second time in a week, drawing Israeli artillery fire and threatening to drag the Jewish state into a second front as it battled Hamas in the...
- Israel Should Not Invade Gaza
I’m afraid Israel hasn’t learned from the Hezbollah war fiasco. The times reports: After a week of air strikes that have killed at least 420 Palestinians and left scores of buildings in rubble, the Israeli army was set to fling hundreds of troops...
- Dore Gold On Disproportionate Response
Shamelessly pinched from Atlas Shrugs Did Israel Use "Disproportionate Force" in Gaza? Dore Gold Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other...
Green Energy
Newsmax:
Israel Preparing for 'Large-scale War' — Cable
Sunday, 02 Jan 2011
Israel's army chief told a U.S. Congress delegation in late 2009 he was preparing for a large war in the Middle East, probably against Hamas or Hezbollah, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables showed on Sunday.
"I am preparing the Israeli army for a large scale war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite," Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying in a cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv.
The document, dated Nov. 15, 2009, was quoted Sunday in Norwegian by Oslo-based daily Aftenposten, which said it had obtained WikiLeaks' entire cache of 251,187 leaked U.S.embassy cables.
"The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defence," Ashkenazi told the U.S. delegation led by Democrat Ike Skelton, the cable showed.
The army chief lamented that Iran has some 300 Shihab rockets that can reach Israel and stressed that the Jewish state would have only between 10 and 12 minutes warning in case of an attack.
However, it was Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed the most acute threat, he cautioned.
According to the quoted cable, Hezbollah is thought to have more than 40,000 rockets, many of which are believed capable of reaching deep into Israel.
U.S. officials meanwhile reportedly estimate the militant group has acquired an arsenal of around 50,000 rockets.
A 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel killed 1,200 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
And in his comments made nearly a year after Israel on Dec. 27, 2008, launched the deadly Gaza war, Ashkenazi said "Israel is on a collision course also with Hamas, which rules Gaza."
"Hamas will have the possibility to bombard Tel Aviv, with Israel's highest population concentration," he was quoted as saying.
The Gaza war — a response to hundreds of rockets fired into the Jewish State — killed some 1,400 mainly civilian Palestinians and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. It ended on Jan. 18, 2009.
Israel had been harshly criticised for putting civilians at risk during fighting in the densely populated Gaza Strip.
However, in the cable leaked Sunday Ashkenazi is quoted saying Israel next time will not accept "any restrictions on warfare in populated areas," and insisted the army had never intentionally attacked civilian targets.
- North Korea Arms Plane ‘bound For Hezbollah’
Times Online: James Hider, Jerusalem An aircraft full of weapons seized in Bangkok last year was heading from North Korea to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, and Hamas, the Palestinian group, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, said yesterday....
- Hamas And The Broad Side Of A Barn Defense
Boston.com (h/t Jawa) Hamas defends rocket attacks on Israel, rejects UN push for new investigation By Associated Press January 28, 2010 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza’s Hamas rulers yesterday defended their actions during the war last winter, saying...
- Rockets From Hizballaland Again ...are Things Sliding Towards?
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Guerrillas in Lebanon rocketed northern Israel on Wednesday for the second time in a week, drawing Israeli artillery fire and threatening to drag the Jewish state into a second front as it battled Hamas in the...
- Israel Should Not Invade Gaza
I’m afraid Israel hasn’t learned from the Hezbollah war fiasco. The times reports: After a week of air strikes that have killed at least 420 Palestinians and left scores of buildings in rubble, the Israeli army was set to fling hundreds of troops...
- Dore Gold On Disproportionate Response
Shamelessly pinched from Atlas Shrugs Did Israel Use "Disproportionate Force" in Gaza? Dore Gold Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other...