10 Kislev 5779
18 November 2018
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
In Judea and Samaria:
Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli with “rocks” and Molotovs at Jama’in, Urif, the Tapuach Junction, Tire Bahar, Kadum, Qalandiya, Yitzhar, the Postal Junction in Gush Talmonim, on Road 443, and in Hevron among other places.
Citizens calling into Rescue Judea and Samaria, rotter, and hakolhayehudi reported 27 such incidents yesterday.
On the Gaza border:
Palestinian terrorists continued attacking our soldiers along the border fence but in somewhat diminished numbers.
On Friday, the IDF posted this notice all along the border:
“We will not show restraint and will not be lenient against anyone who violates the following orders: Anyone who approaches a distance of 100 meters from the fence will put himself in danger, and I suggest that you wake up and understand that Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are leading you to the edge of the abyss. Understand this before it’s too late.”
The message is signed by the head of the IDF’s COGAT Unit, Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokun.
Why this notice hasn’t always been on the border fence is anyone’s guess.
In any case, Hamas’ theme yesterday was “Normalization is treason.” During the course of the afternoon, 1 terrorist was killed and 17 more were wounded.
If you can believe this . . .
Following the Hamas attack on an IDF bus last Monday with a Cornet anti-tank missile, the IDF actually came out and defended Hamas. To hear the IDF spokesman tell it, Hamas made sure that the bus was empty before incinerating it with the missile.
Aside from being bizarre, the statement was completely absurd. A video that Hamas made of the attack showed that the bus emerged from behind a stand of trees which had kept it out of sight of the Hamas attackers. They had every reason to assume that the bus was full of soldiers.
Yesterday afternoon, the IDF came out with a new assessment of what happened: “Hamas was interested in harming our soldiers.”
Really? You think?
But wait, there was more. It turns out that the only reason the soldiers were not on the bus was due to the wisdom of the IDF commander on the bus who–after being told that the bus was going to be moved into an exposed position–ordered his men off the bus.
For all of our criticism of the IDF General Command, thank goodness we have excellent commanders on the ground.
The continuing government saga . . . election or not? . . .
Another surreal day yesterday with Moshe Kahlon on television talking about how he had no objection at all to Naftali Bennett serving as Defense Minister–but that he could not see how a government with only 61 members could survive. On the other hand, Kahlon said he was willing to see if Netanyahu can pull a rabbit out of the hat.
And Naftali Bennett on television talking about how he thinks that Israel has no government, and that he thinks that early elections should be held on March 26th. Of course he might reconsider if named Defense Minister.
And PM Netanyahu continuing to say that he is doing everything possible to save the current government comparing it to the situation in 1992 when a right wing government fell only to be replaced by a government led by Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres which led to the disastrous Oslo Accords.
We’ll see what happens today when Netanyahu meets with all the Coalition heads.
The budget fiasco playing out in the background . . .
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While most of the talk has been election, election, election, a major budget battle has emerged.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has agreed to a 22 billion shekel pay increase for police, prison guards and police, Mossad and Shin Bet security service personnel. The increases in salary stretch all the way out to 2038.
To get the money, Kahlon would cut billions from other programs such as those for health benefits and pensioners. To say that these cuts are controversial is an understatement with some even declaring that they will deal “a fatal blow to the health system” in Israel.
The cabinet is supposed to decide on all of this today.
Say cheese! . . .
Michal Mor and her cheeses (photo Matan Sagi).
In an all-time first, an Israeli cheese has just won a gold medal at the World Cheese Awards held in France. The participants in the contest included cheesemakers from 41 countries who brought some 3500 of their cheeses with them.
200 judges divided into teams evaluated the cheese (a nice job to have!).
16 gold medals were awarded. And lo and behold, one of the sixteen was “Ma’ayan Harod” produced by Michal Mor from the Shirat Roim (Shepherd’s Song) boutique dairy in Kibbutz Lotem in the Galilee region. You can click here for more information.
Mor said that she was shocked when she discovered that her cheese was a winner: “From the beginning I knew it was my best cheese. For 31 years this competition has been taking place, and this is the first time that Israeli cheese has competed and even reached the final.”
Kolakevod Michal!
TODAY’S BLOG:
The IAF Chooses The F-15 IA As Our New Fighter-Bomber
One of Israel’s F-15s.
From the outset, the choice for the Israel Air Force has been whether to go all-in on the F-35 Stealth fighter/bomber or opt for the new F-15IA.
To put it a different way, the debate has been about whether it’s better to go “stealth” with a plane that carries all of its payload internally, or to go with a plane that can handle much heavier payloads because it carries its weapons externally.
As it turns out, Israel has opted to acquire both planes, but a decision was announced yesterday that 25 new F-15IA’s will now be purchased in a $4 billion dollar deal with Boeing. Part of the deal includes upgrading Israel’s 25 existing F-15s. Because of the deal, another squadron of F-35s will not be purchased at this time.
What are the advantages of the F-15IA?
In the first place, it is much cheaper.
Operationally, the new F-15IA will have “a longer flight range, higher survivability, more advanced avionics”* (unique Israeli-made weapons such as missiles, laser domestics, electro-optical systems), and a much better carrying capacity than aircraft currently in service.”
What is the F15 IA’s payload capacity?
It can carry 13 tons of bombs in various forms. For example, it can carry 28 heavy, smart bombs or 11 air-to-air missiles.
The new F-15IAs will be a welcome addition to the Israeli Air Force.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.