Israel News and Discussions

[SajeevJino]

Rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel: residents​

A rocket was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel on Sunday, Lebanese security sources said, and residents of a northern Israeli town reported hearing a blast.

"An explosion was heard. Soldiers are searching the area. The cause is still being investigated," an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A second Israeli military source said the explosion was probably caused by a mortar.

The incident came amid heightened tensions in the region over Syria's civil war. Damascus has said it will respond to Israeli air strikes earlier this month against suspected Iranian missiles in Syria destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The rocket launch could be heard from the Lebanese town of Marjayoun, about 10 km (six miles) from the Israeli border, residents in the Lebanese town said.

Earlier on Sunday, two rockets were fired into a Shi'ite district of southern Beirut after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged his Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group would fight in Syria until victory for President Bashar al-Assad.

Rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel: residents | Reuters

 

[SajeevJino]

Chemical Attack Drill in Israel Today


[tweet]338885718334124032[/tweet]

 

[SajeevJino]

Israel now has 80 nuclear warheads SIPRI​

Israel possesses some 80 nuclear warheads — rather fewer than once thought, and lower than the nuclear arsenal of countries that are officially in possession of atomic weapons — according to the new 2013 yearbook put out by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a leading think tank on global security issues.

Of those warheads, 50 are for medium-range ballistic missiles and 30 are for bombs carried by aircraft, the report said. In addition, "Israel may also have produced non-strategic nuclear weapons, including artillery shells and atomic demolition munitions," the Guardian reported Monday

Israel is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has long maintained an official position of ambiguity with regards to its nuclear capabilities.

In 1986, based on information supplied by ex-Dimona nuclear technician Moredechai Vanunu, later convicted of treason, the Sunday Times of London estimated that Israel had produced more than 100 nuclear warheads.

India and Pakistan, also countries that have not signed the NPT but that nonetheless possess nuclear weapons, each have around 90-120 warheads, SIPRI found, while the NPT countries have many hundreds, or, in the case of the US and Russia, many thousands, more.

Israel now has 80 nuclear warheads, report says | The Times of Israel

 

[SajeevJino]

Israel signs Open Skies deal with EU​

Within five years, flights to and from Europe will be completely unrestricted, thus lowering fares and increasing tourism

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Civil Aviation Authority Director Giora Rom on Monday signed an Open Skies agreement with the European Union.

The agreement, signed at a festive ceremony in Luxembourg between the Israeli representatives and EU transportation ministers, will gradually, over the next five years, remove all barriers for flights between Israel and Europe, in the hopes of lowering air fares and significantly increasing tourism to Israel.

When the Israeli Cabinet approved the deal in April, all three of Israel's airlines — El Al, Arkia and Israir — went on a protest strike. The strikers feared that the increased competition would put Israeli airline employees out of work and possibly even lead to the closure of airlines.

The strike ended after two days when the Finance Ministry agreed to cover a large chunk of the security costs that would have otherwise rendered the Israeli carriers unable to compete with the prices offered by European airlines

Israel signs Open Skies deal with EU | The Times of Israel

 

[SajeevJino]

Israel Receives First C-130J Super Hercules: 'Shimshon'
​

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered the State of Israel's first C-130J Super Hercules airlifter during a ceremony today at its Aeronautics Company's production facility here. This is first of three C-130Js currently on order for the Israeli Air Force (IAF), which has operated legacy C-130s since 1971.

The IAF has bestowed the nickname "Shimshon" on its C-130Js. Shimshon is Hebrew for Samson, who was a judge and leader for the people of Israel. Samson's mother called him Shimshon, which is derived from the Hebrew word for sun, because she felt he was destined to be as bright and mighty as the sun and would deliver the Jewish people from their enemies.

"Israel's new C-130J builds on the tradition of its predecessors and offers the IAF unique capabilities that are not only proven, but without equal," said George Shultz, vice president and general manager, C-130 programs at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. "With its glass cockpit and modern digital avionics, the C-130J has proven it performs in all environments: hot, cold, dirt and sand. Shimshon will serve the IAF as the C-130 always has — anywhere, anytime."

Israel ordered its C-130Js through a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) contract with the U.S. Government. Upon delivery, this aircraft will move into a modification program and receive Israeli-unique systems. An in-country delivery for this C-130J is scheduled for spring 2014.

While Israel is the newest member of the C-130J worldwide operator family, this Super Hercules has the distinction of being one of 290 C-130Js that contributed to the worldwide fleet's first
1 million flight hours. Shimshon's test flight hours were included in this tally, which spans the C-130J's first flight on April 5, 1996 through April 30, 2013.

Lockheed Martin · Israel Receives First C-130J Super Hercules: 'Shimshon'

 

[SajeevJino]

There is no place the IDF can't reach, says Netanyahu​

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday reminded the world of the IDF's capabilities, speaking during a Knesset ceremony marking the 37-year anniversary of Operation Yonatan, the raid on Uganda's Entebbe airport to free over 100 passengers held hostage after a terrorist hijacking.

The threats upon us for the past 37 years continue," said Netanyahu. "But the example of Entebbe shows we can overcome them, and today, too, I say that there is no place that the IDF's long arm will not reach in order to defend the state of Israel."

The ceremony was initiated by MK Omer Bar-Lev (Labor), who participated in the Entebbe rescue.

A week after Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France flight from Tel Aviv, forcing it to land in Uganda, commandos from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit shocked the world by flying to Entebbe Airport on July 4, 1976, and rescuing the passengers.

Netanyahu's brother Yonatan commanded the operation, and was the only IDF casualty. The raid was named after him posthumously.

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), leader of the opposition, responded to Netanyahu's statement by urging him to take steps toward a peace agreement. "The decisions that must be taken by a leader are not the same in every generation," she told him after praising the Entebbe operation. "The long and alert arm needs to be extended for missions of peace as well.

"Just as bravery is demanded in the war on terror, bravery, daring, wisdom and cohesion are demanded in order to ensure our existence here as a strong and just Jewish democratic state," she said. "Go with bravery and ferocity to a comprehensive process that will ensure the continuation of the state of Israel as a Jewish democratic state."

There is no place the IDF can't reach, says Netanyahu | The Times of Israel

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Will new military government of Egypt restore gas pipeline to Israel that Morsi eliminated?

 

[SajeevJino]

Will new military government of Egypt restore gas pipeline to Israel that Morsi eliminated?

Still No words from Egyptian Military Leaders ..Because it's struck decades ago


Maybe if Israel talks to the Egyptian Forces they will give green signal

Moreover Check this too


Egypt Moves Troops In Sinai, Israel Agrees To Changes

Egypt Moves Troops In Sinai, Israel Agrees To Changes

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Moreover Check this too


Egypt Moves Troops In Sinai, Israel Agrees To Changes

Egypt Moves Troops In Sinai, Israel Agrees To Changes

Related to containment of Hamas, perhaps.

 

[SajeevJino]

Lockheed to build technology hub in Israel​

Lockheed Martin plans to set up a technology development center in Israel, underlining the defense ties between the Jewish state and its strategic ally.

The move follows an April agreement under which state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, flagship of the country's defense sector, will build the wings for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Israel's business daily, Globes, said Lockheed Martin will collaborate with Israel's Bynet Data Communications to build the Israeli military's Intelligence Corps center in the Negev Desert, south of Tel Aviv, a program known as Project 5/9, worth $210.6 million.

"The intention is to establish a local branch of Lockheed Martin in Israel in the field of information systems," said Lockheed Martin's Vice President for Global Solutions, Robert Eastman.

Globes said the U.S. defense giant will mainly handle "migration," adapting lines of code written decades ago to advanced computer systems. The center will provide support and maintenance services.

"We specialize in carrying out especially difficult migration to computer systems," Eastman explained.

Lockheed Martin and Bynet founded a joint venture, LB Negev, for the 5/9 Project. Bynet owns 51 percent and Lockheed the remainder.

Bynet's chief executive, Alon Ben-Zur, said the Israelis approached Lockheed Martin because of the complexity of the project. "There's no Israeli company which knows how to do this," he said. "You need someone with experience."

Israel's military intelligence is currently fast-tracking its cyber warfare capabilities to meet a growing threat, primarily from Iran. In March, the Defense Ministry urged Israeli companies to produce a new generation of systems to bolster the Jewish state's cyberwar capabilities as it braces for attacks using new viruses.

Lockheed Martin, which is involved in highly classified military projects like the F-35, has extensive cyber defenses of its own. "We have about 30 attacks a day," Eastman said.

The Israeli production line for the F-35 wings is scheduled to start running in 2015 under the 10-year contract with Lockheed Martin that's potentially worth $2.5 billion to Israel.

IAI's Lahav wing production division produces wings for Lockheed Martin's F-16 and the U.S. Air Force's T-38 trainer aircraft.

"IAI has for years provided critical components for a range of Lockheed Martin platforms," said Steve O'Brien, Lockheed's VP for F-35 business development.

"Participation in the F-35 program is a natural development in our relationship."


Lockheed to build technology hub in Israel - UPI.com

 

[nrupatunga]

Israel's Ethnic Cleansing Zones

In the occupied South Hebron Hills, a dozen traditional communities – long ago denied by Israel the right to enjoy modern amenities such as electricity and running water – are struggling to remain in the cave-homes that sheltered them for centuries.

Palestinians in other parts of the occupied territories coveted by Israel – such as villages next to Jerusalem and those in the fertile Jordan Valley, the territorial backbone of any future Palestinian state – are being squeezed too. Firing ranges, closed military zones and national parks are the pretexts for Israel to seize the farmland these rural communities need to survive.

The Prawer plan, which passed its first reading in parliament last month, will force 40,000 Bedouin off their land – the largest expulsions inside Israel for decades. Unlike Jewish citizens, they will have no say over where they live; they will be forcibly assigned to a township.

 

[SajeevJino]

Israel to free Palestinian prisoners over Kerry talks​

Israel says it will release a number of Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement made with US Secretary of State John Kerry to resume peace talks

Yuval Steinitz, minister responsible for international relations, said it would involve "heavyweight prisoners in jail for decades".

Mr Kerry announced on Friday that initial talks would be held in Washington "in the next week or so".

The Israeli minister's remarks are the first details of the deal.

Mr Kerry had declined to tell reporters in Amman what the two sides had agreed to, saying that the "best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private".

The agreement came at the end of four days of frenetic shuttle diplomacy, on Mr Kerry's sixth visit to the region in the past few months.

Mr Steinitz told Israeli public radio that the deal adhered to the principles set out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for kick-starting the talks.

The release of prisoners would take place in stages, he said.

While the number of detainees to be freed is unclear, one Palestinian official said discussions had earlier focused on the release of 350 prisoners over a period of months, including around 100 men held since before 1993, when Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo peace accords.

BBC News - Israel to free Palestinian prisoners over Kerry talks

 

[Compersion]

Any news on the fta with Israel.

 

[SajeevJino]

Any news on the fta with Israel.

Check here about Indo Israeli Relations

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/foreign-relations/484-indo-israel-mutually-beneficial-relationship-17.html

 

[SajeevJino]

Rafael gears up for Israel's new defense era​

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, one of the Jewish state's leading defense companies and producer of the famed Iron Dome anti-rocket system, says it's reorganizing amid plans to restructure Israel's armed forces for a new era of warfare.

Rafael announced Sunday it will establish a new Land Systems Division to develop and produce land warfare systems as well as naval systems, that will include security systems to protect land and marine facilities such as Israel's offshore natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Globes business daily reported the company will also establish research and development and engineering division to "coordinate activities in areas where the company has a track record of success, including the Iron Dome missile interceptor. The company invests more than 8 percent of its revenue in R&D annually."

Rafael will also establish "a new air systems directorate, which will oversee intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, or ISTAR, networking and communications as well as air-to-ground strike weapons," Globes said.

The company will develop "a new air dominance directorate, which will focus on air-to-air missiles, as well as air and missile defense, offering land-based rocket, air and missile defense systems, such as David's Sling and Iron Dome."

David's Sling, which Rafael is developing with the U.S. Raytheon Co., is a missile defense system designed to counter medium-range missiles. It's due to be deployed in 2014.

Iron Dome, wholly produced by Rafael with substantial U.S. funding, is designed to intercept short-range rockets.

The Defense Ministry says Iron Dome has racked up an 85 percent kill rate against Palestinian rockets since it became operational in the spring of 2011, although some critics dispute that figure.

These two systems will form the lower two layers of a four-tier missile defense shield that the Israelis are putting together.

The top layers, aimed at countering ballistic missiles at high altitude, will comprise Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors developed and manufactured by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.

Arrow-2 is currently operational, and Arrow-3, being co-developed with the Boeing Co. to shoot down ballistic missiles in space, is expected to enter service in 2016.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, a former army general, said this month the multiyear program to restructure the military -- known as "Teuza," Hebrew for boldness -- is "revolutionary" and will change the way Israel fights its wars.

"We are not enslaved to technology," he declared July 11. "We're using it and adapting it to the new reality wherein the army versus army conflicts that we last saw 40 years ago in the Yom Kippur War are becoming less and less relevant. ...

"The foreseeable future is leading us to battles which will be determined by superior Israeli military technology, in the air, land and sea, with less heavy tools and through more and increasing use of sophisticated and unmanned technology, which gives us a significant advantage over any enemy."

Rafael gears up for Israel's new defense era

 

[SajeevJino]

US And Israeli Air force hold two week Exercise "Juniper Stallion 13" in Israel

 

[SajeevJino]

the first ten U.S. F-15 fighter jets deploying to Israel for "Juniper Stallion 13"³ ​

On the afternoon of Jul. 14, 2013, ten F-15 fighter jets (8 x F-15Cs and 2 x F-15Ds) left the UK for Israel on Jul. 16. from the Louisiana ANG arrived at RAF Lakenheath, in transit for the Middle East.

The U.S. planes were bound to Israel, to take part to Juniper Stallion 13, a bilateral aerial exercise held between the U.S. and Israeli air forces, lasting approximately two weeks.

Juniper Stallion 13 is an annual a combined, bilateral F-15/F-16 air-to-air training event designed to improve the interoperability and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli Air Force.

Fort those who may believe the exercise has something to do with the situation in Syria, the official statement by the U.S. European Command claims that: "JS 13 is an annual training event which has been in planning for more than a year."

Last month, the U.S. Air Force released some nice images showing the air power build up near the Syrian border depicting a Jordanian F-16 Fighting Falcon leading another Jordanian F-16, as well as an American F-16 from the 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard, and two Marine F-18s from VMFA-115 over a training base in Northern Jordan.

The Aviationist » Here are the images of the first ten U.S. F-15 fighter jets deploying to Israel for “Juniper Stallion 13″

 

[SajeevJino]

This futuristic-looking mass transit system is really happening​

Tel Aviv is set to begin construction on the world's first magnetically levitating skyTran system of mass transit. Which is awesome because it's fine time that our cities started to look the way scifi says they're supposed to.

As Design Bloom reports, Tel Aviv just appointed US consultancy firm Jenkins Gales & Martinez to oversee the introduction of the revolutionary technology. The system was developed with the help of NASA and the private company skyTran.

The system, dubbed "the physical internet", is designed to reduce urban traffic congestion. It will offer a practical alternative to cars — one that's less expensive, greener, faster, and more comfortable.Guided by rails positioned 20 feet above the ground, the personal two-seater pods can be called up via website or mobile apps

.Each pod is powered by electric currents running from above. Magnetic levitation, or maglev, is enabled by magnets in each pod and an induction coil within the skyway; minimizes friction, resulting in a quiet and smooth ride.Each pod will arrive almost instantly after being called up and will provide point-to-point service.

Boarding platforms will be spaced such that the average distance from a hub to any point in the area will be within one quarter mile.When boarding and discharging, pods will use a side 'acceleration line' to avoid interfering with flowing traffic.

The system will be modular in nature, allowing for easy construction and a high degree of scalability. Each pod will be constructed from composite materials, and will be lightweight and easily supportable.

Fares will cost just slightly less than a cab ride.

Other countries considering SkyTran include India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Now if they could only build us a flying car.


This futuristic-looking mass transit system is really happening

 

[SajeevJino]

17 Yemenite Jews Brought to Israel in Undercover Op​

According to a report by Reshet Bet, the Jewish Agency managed to evacuate 17 Jews from Yemen to Israel, in an undercover operation.

Per the report, two sets of parents were brought here directly from Yemen, while their children came in on a separate flight from Argentina, where they were taken by members of the Satmar Hassidic sect.

The parents had been told that their children would be taken to London where they would be given refugee status, but after leaving Yemen, it was discovered that they wouldn't be allowed to land, and so the children were moved to Argentina before the last leg of their trip.

The Jewish Agency announced that the new immigrants are being brought to an absorption center in the South.

It is believed that less than 90 Jews still reside in Yemen.


17 Yemenite Jews Brought to Israel in Undercover Op - Latest News Briefs - Israel National News

 

[SajeevJino]

Amos 4 satellite launched into space​

Israeli satellite takes off from Kazakhstan, joins 3 other satellites which are already operational


The satellite Amos 4, operated by the Israeli company Spacecom, has been launched into space from Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The satellite joins Spacecom's Amos 5, 2 and 3, which are already operational in space. Amos 6 is expected to be space-ready in 2014.

The satellite is carrying sophisticated communication equipment that allows it to function as a remote transmission and broadcast hub.

It orbits the earth at a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers over the equator, and moves with the direction of the earth's rotation.

Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri addressed the launch and said: "In the digital and satellite era, space and cyber space are critical issues when it comes to Israel's security. The Israeli Space Agency is expanding its work significantly and launching this satellite is another milestone in the journey that the State of Israel has set – entry into the list of five leading national space programs.

Amos 4 satellite launched into space - Israel News, Ynetnews