Three bits of news today, news that demonstrates the fact that Israel is being backed into a corner. At some point, they are going to react, and when they do, things are going to get nasty extremely quickly.
NEWS Item One:
New Iranian missiles for Gaza, Syria tops up Hizballah's rocket stocks
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
October 26, 2009
Iran is making a huge effort to smuggle to the Palestinian Hamas Fajr-5 ground-to-ground rockets that bring Tel Aviv within range of the Gaza Strip. DEBKAfile's military sources also disclose that Syria, Iran's second ally with an Israeli border, has decided to transfer one-third of its missile stockpile to the Hizballah in Lebanon, topping up its arsenal with medium-range rockets that can cover central as well as northern Israel, which was heavily blitzed in the 2006 war.
Israel's top strategists are studying these massive missile transfers to hostile entities to find answers to a number of key questions:
1. Syria has destined some 250 surface missiles of its stockpile of 800 for Hizballah. Are they Scuds B, C and D whose ranges exceed 800 kilometers, or Iranian-Syrian made projectiles whose range is shorter?
2. Do the transfers mean Iran and its allies are gearing up for a major Middle East conflict in the months ahead, possibly in early 2010?
3. Will Syria hand over to Hizballah some of its chemicals-tipped missiles?
4. Will some batteries be installed atop the mountain ranges running down central Lebanon, together with air defense systems supplied at the same time by Syria?
Israel is particularly concerned by the Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's recent decision to turn coat against the pro-Western camp led by Saad Hariri in favor of deals with Tehran and Damascus.
Incorporated in these under-the-counter deals are secret military clauses which permit Hizballah to deploy its missiles on highlands of his Druze fief. Israel would think twice at least before attacking areas populated by Druze villages. In the south, Iran's Revolutionary Guards terrorist arm, the Al Qods Brigades, its bending all its smuggling resources to getting the Fajr-5 missiles into the Gaza Strip, thereby extending Hamas' rocket range to 75 kilometers and central Israel. According to our intelligence sources, the rockets are traveling by sea from Iran to Hamas training bases in Sudan, dismantled into 8-10 segments , transported to the northern shores of the Gulf of Suez and unloaded in Sinai. From there the segments move through tunnels into the Gaza Strip.Military sources wonder what the Netanyahu government is doing to halt the missile stranglehold tightening around Israel. Nothing is apparent as yet.
NEWS Item Two
French FM: "Israel will not tolerate an Iranian bomb"
DEBKAfile Special Report
October 26, 2009
DEBKAfile Special Report
October 26, 2009
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Iran's nuclear ambitions have started a "race to confrontation" with Israel and the world's leading powers must break the deadlock before the Jewish state "reacts."
The French minister added: "There is the time that Israel will offer us before reacting because Israel will react as soon as they know clearly that there is a threat. They will not tolerate an Iranian an Iranian bomb," he stressed. "We know that, all of us. So that is an additional risk and that is why we must decrease the tension and solve the problem."
Kouchner spoke after Iran's state TV commented: Soon enough, the White House will have to come to terms with the fact that Tehran will not abandon its nuclear program, as the government and Iranians in general wholeheartedly believe that the nuclear right is an inalienable one.
A UN nuclear watchdog team paid their first visit to the previously hidden uranium enrichment site near Qom Sunday Oct. 25 and expects to inspect the site again in the next two days. Iran claims that the Fordo plant, which is burrowed deep into a mountainside and housed in a military complex, will not be operational for another 18 months. Tehran agreed to the inspection three weeks ago, which according to DEBKAfile's sources, was time enough to make changes and remove or conceal incriminating evidence from the inspectors' eyes.
The French minister added: "There is the time that Israel will offer us before reacting because Israel will react as soon as they know clearly that there is a threat. They will not tolerate an Iranian an Iranian bomb," he stressed. "We know that, all of us. So that is an additional risk and that is why we must decrease the tension and solve the problem."
Kouchner spoke after Iran's state TV commented: Soon enough, the White House will have to come to terms with the fact that Tehran will not abandon its nuclear program, as the government and Iranians in general wholeheartedly believe that the nuclear right is an inalienable one.
A UN nuclear watchdog team paid their first visit to the previously hidden uranium enrichment site near Qom Sunday Oct. 25 and expects to inspect the site again in the next two days. Iran claims that the Fordo plant, which is burrowed deep into a mountainside and housed in a military complex, will not be operational for another 18 months. Tehran agreed to the inspection three weeks ago, which according to DEBKAfile's sources, was time enough to make changes and remove or conceal incriminating evidence from the inspectors' eyes.
NEWS Item Three:
Iran buys North Korean WMD for Syria, midget submarines for both
DEBKAfile Special report
October 25, 2009
DEBKAfile Special report
October 25, 2009
The US Congressional Research Service reveals that Iran has helped Syria obtain "various forms of weapons of mass destruction" and missiles, as well as buying midget submarines - all from North Korea.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that the North Korean miniature subs are capable of dropping small teams of commando forces on enemy shores, damaging large warships and mining the approaches of naval bases and harbors. They are capable of sowing EM-52 "rising mines" originally developed by China, which lurk on deep sea beds until triggered by a passing ship to release a missile which shoots up to strike its hull.
This weapon substantially enhances the Syrian and Iranian navies' menace, a development Israel will have take into account in the defenses of its Mediterranean naval bases and commercial ports.
The US CRS notes" Iran purportedly has acted as an intermediary with North Korea to supply Syria with missiles and various forms of WNMD, without specifying whether they are nuclear, chemical or biological.
To keep one of its few allies close, Tehran uses Syria as a "transit point for Iranian weapons shipments to Hizballah and both countries see Hizballah as leverage against Israel to achieve their regional and territorial aims."
The report sees the Obama administration's engagement with Syria as a bid to draw Damascus to loosen its bonds with Tehran, but sees little chance of this effort succeeding.
On Oct. 20, DEBKAfile's military sources disclosed that Syria, Iran's second ally with an Israeli border, has decided to transfer one-third of its missile stockpile to the Hizballah in Lebanon, topping up its arsenal with 250 medium-range surface rockets that can cover central as well as northern Israel, which was heavily blitzed in the 2006 war.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that the North Korean miniature subs are capable of dropping small teams of commando forces on enemy shores, damaging large warships and mining the approaches of naval bases and harbors. They are capable of sowing EM-52 "rising mines" originally developed by China, which lurk on deep sea beds until triggered by a passing ship to release a missile which shoots up to strike its hull.
This weapon substantially enhances the Syrian and Iranian navies' menace, a development Israel will have take into account in the defenses of its Mediterranean naval bases and commercial ports.
The US CRS notes" Iran purportedly has acted as an intermediary with North Korea to supply Syria with missiles and various forms of WNMD, without specifying whether they are nuclear, chemical or biological.
To keep one of its few allies close, Tehran uses Syria as a "transit point for Iranian weapons shipments to Hizballah and both countries see Hizballah as leverage against Israel to achieve their regional and territorial aims."
The report sees the Obama administration's engagement with Syria as a bid to draw Damascus to loosen its bonds with Tehran, but sees little chance of this effort succeeding.
On Oct. 20, DEBKAfile's military sources disclosed that Syria, Iran's second ally with an Israeli border, has decided to transfer one-third of its missile stockpile to the Hizballah in Lebanon, topping up its arsenal with 250 medium-range surface rockets that can cover central as well as northern Israel, which was heavily blitzed in the 2006 war.
Remember Israel's track record. They will wait as long as they possibly can before reacting to threats. Why? Because history has demonstrated that when they react, even against a legitimate and documented threat, the world immediately stands in opposition. So, they wait while hoping for some sign of a diplomatic solution.
My Opinion is that no diplomatic solution will come. There may be momentary signs that will delay the inevitable, but sooner or even sooner, Israel will have to defend itself. Keep praying for the Peace of Jerusalem....especially for the spiritual peace of Israelis who desperately need to see their Messiah.
Jimmy Root Jr
Author of Distant Thunder Book One of the Lightning Chronicles and
A Gathering Storm, Book Two of the Lightning Chronicles (2010)
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