Israel: 'Gaza is an Iranian Terror State; Smuggling War Materiel by Sea Quantatively Different'

Above: Turkish military bulletproof vests found on the Mavi Marmara "peace ship"  (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today expressed strong support for Israel's Naval commandos in the wake of the violence they encountered on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish vessel that was one of six ships in a flotilla determined to break Israel's embargo on the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza.

"This was no peace flotilla but a violent and planned force. We have film and pictures that underscore what our soldiers faced and the last thing that could possibly be said about that ship is that it was a peace ship," he said.

"Today, I visited the wounded fighters at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and I heard from them waiting for them on the deck of the ship were terrorists armed with cold weapons such as axes, knives, clubs, bars and the like, and it is likely that they also snatched weapons. Our soldiers acted against them with equanimity and heroism. We regret the loss of life – but give full backing to the soldiers and to the IDF regarding this action," he said.


Prime Minister Netanyahu also explained why it is necessary to check ships transporting equipment and people to Gaza. "We know from the experience of Operation Cast Lead, and from before it, that war materiel which enters Gaza is directed against our citizens," he said.

"Gaza is an Iranian-sponsored terrorist state; therefore, we try to prevent the entry of war materiel into Gaza, whether by land, sea or air. True, they smuggle war materiel through tunnels but smuggling via the sea is completely different, quantitatively," Netanyahu explained.

"On the Francop alone, we captured approximately 200 tons of war materiel smuggled from Iran to Hezbollah. Opening a sea route into Gaza would constitute a great danger to the security of our citizens. Therefore, we persist with a naval blockade and check the ships. There is no possibility of maintaining this policy without checking ships' cargoes.

"True, there is international pressure and criticism of this policy but we must understand that it is vital in order to maintain Israel's security and Israel's right to defend itself."

Close-Up Footage of Mavi Marmara Passengers Attacking IDF Soldiers

Israel Navy Drills Prior to Flotilla Confrontation

It’s Starting: Israeli Gov’t Issues Travel Warning to Turkey

The Israeli government today issued a travel warning to Turkey in response to demonstrations taking place around the Israeli Consultate in Istanbul and the Israeli Embassy in Ankara.

“This delicate state of affairs is liable to deteriorate into violent outbreaks against Israelis in Turkey,” warned the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NSCCTB) in a statement released Monday to the media. “Israelis due to leave for Turkey should — at this stage — refrain from traveling until the situation becomes clear. Israelis currently in Turkey should remain in their places of residence, avoid city centers and sites in which demonstrations are being held, and monitor developments out of concern that the situation could worsen,” the agency warned.

The protests were apparently ignited in response to the confrontation that ensued when a flotilla sponsored by so-called “peace activists” tried to challenge Israel’s sovereignty over Gaza’s coastal waters late Sunday night. 

In actuality, radical Muslim extremists were among those behind the attempt, as became obvious when Israeli Navy personnel attempted to redirect the vessels to the Ashdod port, where their "humanitarian aid" would have been off-loaded for legal delivery through the land crossings into Gaza.

The ships refused to stop, and a confrontation ensued, with Israeli soldiers being forced to board the vessels to take control -- a situation the organizers clearly had hoped for in order to provoke a conflict for media consumption. The so-called “peace activists” had stockpiled a cache of weapons, including guns, daggers, clubs and knives. At least one IDF soldiers was shot and critically wounded. A second was stabbed in the stomach.

Turkey provided material support to the organizers of the flotilla, a move that follows its recent tightening of relations with Iran and Syria in an apparent new alliance that builds on the already-firm axis between Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas.

This latest development forms an updated version of that military axis, which could signal a new threat to the Jewish State -- especially in light of the fact that up to this point Israel shared much of its military information and operations as well as other technological information with Turkey, formerly a close ally.

What Really Happened...

So-called "peace activists" -- actually provocateurs dressed in anarchists' clothing -- have tried once again to challenge Israel's sovereignty over the coastal waters of Gaza, determined by the Oslo Accords decades ago.

It is true that the Palestinian Authority and its supporters have chosen to respect little in connection with that agreement, other than the clauses which the Arab world finds favorable. However, that does not mean the document is any the less legal for all of that, much as some in Israel would also have preferred it never to have been signed.

Since it remains so, it must be respected by all -- including the international bodies that allowed their representatives to act as proxies in challenging Israel's sovereignty.

It does raise the question, however, of whether a burgeoning new axis is forming on the horizon to supplement that of the already cemented alliance between Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Hizbullah and Hamas. Do we now see the emergence of a new one between Turkey, Brazil, Venezuela and Iran as well? And are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Cyprus contemplating joining them?

When then should we expect the advent of World War III, and with whom will Britain and France ally themselves this time? Germany, at present friendly to Israel, nonetheless saw its largest bank divest itself from Elbit Systems at the first hint of criticism from a couple of "humanitarian" nongovernmental organizations, one of which is associated with the Catholic Church. Elbit, an Israeli defense firm, provides electronics systems and technical support in the construction of the security barrier in Judea and Samaria -- a project that has saved countless civilian lives (yes, Catholic ones too!), but which the "peace activists" oppose because it upsets the Palestinian Authority.

Good thing the IDF continues to train -- and Home Front Command continues to drill the civilian population each year...

Israel Getting Ready to Shake, Rattle and Roll?

(Arad) - It’s only a matter of time until a major earthquake hits the Jewish State, according to the director of Israel’s national earthquake readiness committee.

Earthquakes happen all the time in Israel – a mild one struck the north this past Saturday night,  registering 3.6 on the Richter scale, according to the Seismological Institute. The temblor occurred just north of Lake Kinneret, near the Arik Bridge at about 8:45 p.m. It lasted about 10 seconds.

Another mild quake hit the north about 10 days ago, registering 3.4 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was located in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Lebanon. That quake was preceded a day earlier by a stronger, level-6 temblor that struck Turkey, north of Lebanon.

Dozens of people were killed.


‘We Are Now in the Area of Statistical Error’
Dr. Avi Shapira, head of the National Infrastructures Ministry committee, said that every location in Israel has experienced an earthquake at least once in the past 2,000 years – and that where there has been at least one earthquake, there is sure to be another.

But now the country is running into overtime, he pointed out in a statement he released to the media on Sunday.


“Israel experiences a large earthquake on an average of every 80 years; since the last one occurred in 1927, we are now in the area of statistical error. Of course, it could be a few decades before a quake occurs, but it could also happen at any given moment. We also know that the more time passes, the greater the intensity of the earthquake will be,” he said.


‘Greed and Stupidity’
Shapira slammed the short-sightedness of local authorities who are unwilling to grant building zones to contractors in exchange for reinforcing existing structures against future earthquakes. He also had strong words for citizens who supported their local governments' unwillingness to grand the additional building zones to the contractors in a special deal involving a regulation called TMA38, which was approved in 2005.


TMA38, the National Planning Guidelines for Seismic Strengthening, determines the steps that contractors are expected to take upon themselves for the reinforcement of existing buildings in return for building zones.


However, Shapira explained, very few local communities had actually taken advantage of the deal. “TMA38 is only worth something in places where land is expensive – but from a survey that we carried out, we found that even in expensive areas in central Israel, of 100,000 buildings that can be reinforced according to TMA38, only a few hundred have actually been dealt with," he said.


“This is because of the greed and stupidity of citizens on the one hand, and the local authorities’ refusal to grant additional building zones for a variety of reasons – some justified and some less,” he added.

Local Authorities Face Conflicting Priorities
It is the local authority that becomes the immediate responder in the aftermath of an earthquake, explained Ephraim Karni, head of Israel’s National Emergency Authority. “It is irrelevant whether a local authority is a strong or weak one, a functioning or non-functioning one, prepared or not prepared – it is the local authority that will have to provide an immediate response,” he said.


And yet, that having been said, most local authorities are ill prepared, due in part to the national government’s unwillingness to empower them with the autonomy to make the necessary preparations. Sharon Azriel, acting director-general of the Union of Local Authorities said that financial cutbacks and budget limits have pushed aside the issue of emergency preparedness in most local authorities.


“A mayor who has funds and has to choose between building a new promenade or park, and establishing an underground command center that no citizen can see or is aware of – finds himself in a serious dilemma,” Azriel said.


Regardless, Israel is living on borrowed time, according to most experts in the field, and will soon have to face the issue of how to prepare its infrastructure, its buildings and its population to behave in the event of an earthquake -- with or without the financial wherewithal to do so.