Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The Day We Beat The Arabs - Opinion

Opinion - Linor Bar-El  - Israel's Channel 20 News

The Arab infatuation with marking days of defeat and destruction provide an opportunity to add one more to their list - a forgotten day from the far away days before the Jews reconstituted their state - the day we beat them

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL -- The modern Arab world is obsessed with marking failures and defeats. The 'Nakba Day' and the 'Naksa Day' marking the mortifying defeats of 1948 and 1967 are but two well known examples.

In contrast, modern Israel celebrates those particular two days with grandeur and pageantry. The War of Independence  and the Six Day War have become synonymous with magnificent victories, studied in war colleges throughout the world. The miraculous elements vs. the human ingenuity and courage have become intertwined in the effort to explain the inconceivable, or at least until 1992 Israel Prize laureate Prof. Moshe Lissak of the Hebrew University sociology department added a third, most intriguing element to the understanding of the conflict.

In the 1990's, when the word "peace" was still popular in all segments of Israeli society, Prof. Lissak (who will be celebrating his 90th birthday this year) was invited to take part in a Jewish-Arab panel dealing with the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence. During the panel discussion an Arab historian turned to Prof. Lissak and asked: "Prof. Lissak, you are considered a world renowned expert, maybe you can explain to me how you beat us in 1948? 600 thousand Jews against the entire Arab world?"

Prof. Lissak responded: "Here my learned friend is your error. We beat you long before 1948. We defeated you in 1925 when we founded the Hebrew University - many years before we had a state!"

The Arabs in the room smiled uncomfortably and were forced to agree. On April 1, 1925, 23 years before the state of Israel came into being, Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein - under the auspices of the World Zionist Movement, laid the cornerstone for the first Hebrew speaking university in the Land of Israel.

The Arabs, as they are wont to do, were furious. They demanded that the British High Commissioner at the time, Herbert Samuel, cancel the decision. Samuel refused and instead, in an effort to abate the Arab fury, suggested they create a university of their own.

Two months later, the Arabs of the Land of Israel began raising funds for the creation of the first Arab university, and even contracted the services of the greatest Arab architects of the day to plan the campus. The money poured in, the plans were submitted, but that is when they were hit with a problem - they could not find any Arab teachers or professors in the Holy Land with the necessary credentials to  staff a modern university faculty. The dream of an Arab university was shelved.

Sadly, the 'Naksa' and 'Nakba' days have yet to awaken the Arabs in our midst to the realization the the Jews are here to stay. My suggestion therefore is for the Hamas and PLO leadership to add another day of defeat to their calendar - 'Gahl Day' - the day of ignorance - because maybe then - between burning tires and incendiary kites - they will begin to digest the fact that they have no chance at really defeating us.

They never really had one.

PS - In 1934, Chaim Weizmann founded the 'Ziv Insitute' in Rechovot - later to be world renowned as the Weizmann Institute of Science.

(Originally posted in Hebrew on Israel 20 News. Translated w/permission by Michael Cohen)
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Linor Barel is an Israeli hitech pioneer who has transitioned into a life of media and political commentary. She is a regular on Israel's channel 20 news and is the founder and chief editor of the 'Israel on Demand' news magazine.

Monday, January 4, 2016

For years I have been hearing about Israel's "fleecing" of the U.S. taxpayer. Among the many little known facts in this argument is that $1.25 of every dollar "given" to Israel is spent in the United States and supports U.S. jobs and economic growth.

Here is yet another example of U.S. pressuring Israel to use a particular technology in order to boost its economic viability. 

Our thanks to Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis who has been providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations to the world since 1992 for the tip! (http://www.imra.org.il)  

Israel Plans To Replace F-16s With JSF


 Courtesy - Lockheed Martin Aerospace
TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The Israel Air Force plans to retire much of its F-16 multi-role fighter fleet when the Joint Strike Fighter arrives in 2017. Military sources said the air force would phase out the F-16s acquired in the 1990s with the arrival of the fifth-generation F-35. They said the first step would be the dismantling of an air force squadron that consists of F-16Cs.

"These [F-16Cs] are the oldest operational F-16s in the fleet," a source said. "Over the last decade, we have concentrated our operations on the F-16I."

Israel, despite concern over flaws in the aircraft, has already ordered 33 F-35s from Lockheed Martin. The sources said the retirement of additional F-16 units would depend on additional JSF orders. The air force was believed
to operate 125 F-16 C and D aircraft.

The sources said Israel has been rebuffed in efforts to acquire a planned stealth variant of the F-15 fighter-jet. They said the air force has sought the F-15 to guarantee combat operations in case of difficulties with JSF.

Under its multi-year military budget, the air force was ordered to close training and combat squadrons. Over the last two years, the air force shut down both F-16 and Cobra attack helicopter units in expectation of the JSF
as well as additional AH-64 attack helicopters.

At the same time, the air force was preparing to use additional U.S. aid to acquire missile and rocket defense systems. The sources cited the medium-range David's Sling and short-range Iron Dome, meant to be coproduced
in the United States.

"The Americans are pushing us to use their assistance to acquire defensive systems as well as additional JSF," the source said.

http://www.menewsline.com/article-1173,36019-Israel-Plans-To-Replace-F-16s-Wit.aspx