8 nov 2015
On Friday morning, activists from BDS Norway staged an intifada against leading arms producer Nammo Raufoss AS, in eastern Norway.
In a symbolic demonstration, the activists protested against the Norwegian direct and indirect arms trade with Israel. According to the Alternative Information Center, the direct action was broadcast live from Tv2 Nyhetskanalen, a national news-channel.
The protest was followed up by a petition to the government, demanding an end to all arms trade with Israel.
In the Israeli arsenal, there are weapons, ammunition and weapons components produced by Nammo AS or Nammo Talley, a subsidiary of Nammo AS in the United States. Israeli forces have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in the last decade, many of them by using weapons with Norwegian components. Norwegian weapons thus become part of Israel's violation of international law, the oppression of the Palestinians and the Israeli occupation of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza).
Although there are Norwegian laws prohibiting direct arms sales to Israel, Norwegian weapons are sold from the Nammo Group through its subsidiary in the United States, Nammo Talley. We believe that under no circumstances should Norway contribute to the illegal occupation of Palestine. We demand that no Norwegian-produced weapons or weapons components end up in Israel. The Nammo Group is a state-owned company. Therefore, this is a Norwegian political responsibility.
BDS Norway also took action against Nammo AS in August 2014. BDS has resolved to continue demonstrating until Norwegian authorities change both practice and legislation, so that the arms trade and collaboration with Israel ceases. www.bdsnorway.net
In a symbolic demonstration, the activists protested against the Norwegian direct and indirect arms trade with Israel. According to the Alternative Information Center, the direct action was broadcast live from Tv2 Nyhetskanalen, a national news-channel.
The protest was followed up by a petition to the government, demanding an end to all arms trade with Israel.
In the Israeli arsenal, there are weapons, ammunition and weapons components produced by Nammo AS or Nammo Talley, a subsidiary of Nammo AS in the United States. Israeli forces have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in the last decade, many of them by using weapons with Norwegian components. Norwegian weapons thus become part of Israel's violation of international law, the oppression of the Palestinians and the Israeli occupation of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza).
Although there are Norwegian laws prohibiting direct arms sales to Israel, Norwegian weapons are sold from the Nammo Group through its subsidiary in the United States, Nammo Talley. We believe that under no circumstances should Norway contribute to the illegal occupation of Palestine. We demand that no Norwegian-produced weapons or weapons components end up in Israel. The Nammo Group is a state-owned company. Therefore, this is a Norwegian political responsibility.
BDS Norway also took action against Nammo AS in August 2014. BDS has resolved to continue demonstrating until Norwegian authorities change both practice and legislation, so that the arms trade and collaboration with Israel ceases. www.bdsnorway.net
7 nov 2015
A sold-out Western Region Gala event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel was attended by American and Israeli guests, this last Friday night.
Among the present guests were: actors Jason Alexander, Antonio Banderas, Liev Schreiber, Jason Segel and Mark Wahlberg, as well as KISS bassist, Israeli-born Gene Simmons.
“For the past nine years I have watched this gala grow into the preeminent charity event it is today, and I am truly humbled by the funds raised yesterday, which are a testament to the importance of the FIDF organization and its mission. The overwhelming support from the Los Angeles community continues to amaze me,” said entertainment mogul Haim Saban, a national board member of FIDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces).
According to Israeli media, the event focused on the “lone soldiers, who leave their families and native countries behind to serve in the army, and included testimonies from the mothers of fallen soldiers.” Apparently, it also featured a presentation from a US veteran on the impact of Israeli medical technology on the lives of Americans.
PNN reports that the FIDF was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors, and provides educational, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for Israeli soldiers.
Among the present guests were: actors Jason Alexander, Antonio Banderas, Liev Schreiber, Jason Segel and Mark Wahlberg, as well as KISS bassist, Israeli-born Gene Simmons.
“For the past nine years I have watched this gala grow into the preeminent charity event it is today, and I am truly humbled by the funds raised yesterday, which are a testament to the importance of the FIDF organization and its mission. The overwhelming support from the Los Angeles community continues to amaze me,” said entertainment mogul Haim Saban, a national board member of FIDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces).
According to Israeli media, the event focused on the “lone soldiers, who leave their families and native countries behind to serve in the army, and included testimonies from the mothers of fallen soldiers.” Apparently, it also featured a presentation from a US veteran on the impact of Israeli medical technology on the lives of Americans.
PNN reports that the FIDF was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors, and provides educational, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for Israeli soldiers.
5 nov 2015
Aid package requested set to include F-35 stealth jets, Arrow 3 missiles and V-22 Osprey helicopters; issue to be discussed during Netanyahu, Obama meeting next Monday.
Israel has asked the United States to raise the amount of the annual defense aid from the current 3 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars, an American source revealed to Reuters.Israel has asked the United States to raise the amount of the annual defense aid from the current 3 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars, an American source revealed to Reuters.
According to the report, Israel is interested in annual aid package of 5 billion dollars for a decade - that is 50 billion dollars.
But US officials argue that the aid would be higher but less than what is requested by Israel. According to Reuters, a US official estimated that the Obama administration will compromise with Netanyahu for an amount ranging between 4 and 5 billion dollars. Before the crisis regarding the nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli and American officials discussed raising the amount of the package to 3.7 to 3.6 billion dollars.
Israel's request is intended to deal with future threats given the current instability of the Middle East and the threats posed by Iran and by terrorist organizations. "Israel claims that Iran's economic prosperity due to the removal of sanctions will allow it to increase its support to organizations hostile to Israel in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories; Washington say this concern is exaggerated," according to Reuters.
As recently reported by ynet, Israel's government has recently presented to the US government a list of requests for special military equipment for the next twenty years.
Among these requests are squadrons of F-15 stealth fighter jets beyond the F-35 squadrons the Americans have already promised. The Israeli list also includes the V-22 Osprey aircraft-helicopter, helicopters, refueling aircraft, precision weapons and a large amount of Arrow 3 missiles designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere as an additional layer of protection to the Arrow 2. It is important to note that beyond the aid package, Israel receives additional funding specifically earmarked for missile defense via another budget.
Israel's official request has not yet been presented by the government to Congress, according to Reuters. "First they have to negotiate with the White House," a Congress official stated. Israel's request will be discussed for the first time between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their meeting at the White House expected next Monday.
Israel has asked the United States to raise the amount of the annual defense aid from the current 3 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars, an American source revealed to Reuters.Israel has asked the United States to raise the amount of the annual defense aid from the current 3 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars, an American source revealed to Reuters.
According to the report, Israel is interested in annual aid package of 5 billion dollars for a decade - that is 50 billion dollars.
But US officials argue that the aid would be higher but less than what is requested by Israel. According to Reuters, a US official estimated that the Obama administration will compromise with Netanyahu for an amount ranging between 4 and 5 billion dollars. Before the crisis regarding the nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli and American officials discussed raising the amount of the package to 3.7 to 3.6 billion dollars.
Israel's request is intended to deal with future threats given the current instability of the Middle East and the threats posed by Iran and by terrorist organizations. "Israel claims that Iran's economic prosperity due to the removal of sanctions will allow it to increase its support to organizations hostile to Israel in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories; Washington say this concern is exaggerated," according to Reuters.
As recently reported by ynet, Israel's government has recently presented to the US government a list of requests for special military equipment for the next twenty years.
Among these requests are squadrons of F-15 stealth fighter jets beyond the F-35 squadrons the Americans have already promised. The Israeli list also includes the V-22 Osprey aircraft-helicopter, helicopters, refueling aircraft, precision weapons and a large amount of Arrow 3 missiles designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere as an additional layer of protection to the Arrow 2. It is important to note that beyond the aid package, Israel receives additional funding specifically earmarked for missile defense via another budget.
Israel's official request has not yet been presented by the government to Congress, according to Reuters. "First they have to negotiate with the White House," a Congress official stated. Israel's request will be discussed for the first time between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at their meeting at the White House expected next Monday.
21 sept 2015
By Kristin Szremski
Much has been written about how Israel and its supporters in the United States, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), suffered a blow when they were not able to stop the Iran deal this month.
Despite threats, tantrums and a congressional visit last March that defied presidential official protocol, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to sway Congress to defeat the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a pact that avoids war in part by allowing for international inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites. AIPAC and its newly created Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran spent nearly $40 million on television ads and funding trips for US congressmen to Israel, but they came away empty-handed.
Israel may end up being the biggest winner after all, at the expense of regional stability and peace for the Palestinians. If President Barack Obama and Congress move forward on promises of appeasement by, among other things, increasing the sale of F-35 aircraft, delivering "bunker busters" and increasing US aid to Israel to $4.5 billion annually beginning in 2018, they will enable Israel to unilaterally attack Iran as well as ensure Israel’s military occupation of Palestine for decades to come.
To be sure, Israel is not the only country clamouring for increased military aid because of the Iran deal. The Gulf states, too, will receive increased assistance. But American law ensures that Israel maintains a qualitative military edge. In other words, American handouts to Israel go above and beyond anything we give all other countries in the Middle East.
Furthermore, several former Israeli intelligence officers say the Iran deal is “their best option” and is in their “national security interests”. Israel is the region’s only nuclear power, a fact it once hid from the United States, despite securing American aircraft to protect the Dimona nuclear site in the Naqab in the 1950s. A variety of analysts estimate Israel has between 80 to several hundred nuclear warheads, but it has never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty nor allowed international inspections.
Israel’s budget is fungible, so our funds allow it to spend its own money in other areas, such as in supporting settlement construction, subsidising settler mortgages, building the apartheid wall and so many other aspects of its occupation.
US foreign military financing accounts for 25 percent of Israel’s defence budget. More than one quarter of those funds can be spent on Israeli-manufactured equipment, known as off-shore procurement, definitely helpful in building its own military industrial complex. Our largess, unique to Israel, has allowed it to grow into the world’s sixth largest arms exporter.
Israel is not a tiny country surrounded by hostile neighbours as its propaganda continues to suggest. It is a powerhouse that not only has the most advanced military capability in the Middle East but has a nuclear arsenal as well.
$28bn to Israel
So why the demands for “bunker busters” and increased military aid, including funds for missile defence systems?
Simply put, with the newly reconstructed 30,000-lb “massive ordnance penetrators,” Israel would be able to attack Iran on its own with bombs powerful enough to reach fortified bunkers well below the earth’s surface. Currently, the US is near the end of a 10-year, $30-billion aid package to Israel. It expires in 2017 and already President Obama has pledged to renew the Memorandum of Understanding at the increased level of $45 billion through 2028. It’s true that this is separate from appeasement deals currently being cut. But taken as whole, it is clear Israel will continue to exploit the Iran deal until it gets what it wants.
Time and again, international studies, such as the Goldstone Report, the UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, and reports by Defense of Children International – Palestine section, among others, have shown that in contravention of international law Israel uses its weapons against a civilian population; that it has used chemical weapons such as white phosphorus; and that military forces routinely subject children to arrests, abuse and torture, for example. The US Arms Export Control Act forbids a recipient of US foreign aid from using American weapons or weapons purchased with American money against a civilian population.
Israel violates these laws with impunity. Until the United States ties its rhetoric on human rights, settlement expansion and ending the occupation with an economic incentive - that is, withholding US aid until Israel complies with international and American laws - things won’t change and, in fact, could get worse. Throwing more weaponry and money at Israel to quiet its anger over the Iran deal will just inflame the situation.
A diverse group of 11 social justice organisations in the United States is trying to avert new weapons and funds transfer to Israel. To date, nearly 50,000 people have signed the #NoWeapons4Israel petition targeting President Obama.
While coalition members realise it will likely not stop a process already in motion, the hope is that by gathering such a significant number of signatures the Obama administration will have to accept the fact vast numbers of Americans do not want to pay for the military subjugation of the Palestinian people or for Israel’s war on Iran. And as the grassroots says “no weapons for Israel,” tens of thousands of people also are saying the only way toward peace and regional stability is to end the occupation by stopping the transfer of US aid and military assistance to Israel.
- Kristin Szremski is an award-winning journalist, who has covered Middle East issues for the past 15 years. This article was published in the Middle East Eye.
Much has been written about how Israel and its supporters in the United States, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), suffered a blow when they were not able to stop the Iran deal this month.
Despite threats, tantrums and a congressional visit last March that defied presidential official protocol, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to sway Congress to defeat the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a pact that avoids war in part by allowing for international inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites. AIPAC and its newly created Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran spent nearly $40 million on television ads and funding trips for US congressmen to Israel, but they came away empty-handed.
Israel may end up being the biggest winner after all, at the expense of regional stability and peace for the Palestinians. If President Barack Obama and Congress move forward on promises of appeasement by, among other things, increasing the sale of F-35 aircraft, delivering "bunker busters" and increasing US aid to Israel to $4.5 billion annually beginning in 2018, they will enable Israel to unilaterally attack Iran as well as ensure Israel’s military occupation of Palestine for decades to come.
To be sure, Israel is not the only country clamouring for increased military aid because of the Iran deal. The Gulf states, too, will receive increased assistance. But American law ensures that Israel maintains a qualitative military edge. In other words, American handouts to Israel go above and beyond anything we give all other countries in the Middle East.
Furthermore, several former Israeli intelligence officers say the Iran deal is “their best option” and is in their “national security interests”. Israel is the region’s only nuclear power, a fact it once hid from the United States, despite securing American aircraft to protect the Dimona nuclear site in the Naqab in the 1950s. A variety of analysts estimate Israel has between 80 to several hundred nuclear warheads, but it has never signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty nor allowed international inspections.
Israel’s budget is fungible, so our funds allow it to spend its own money in other areas, such as in supporting settlement construction, subsidising settler mortgages, building the apartheid wall and so many other aspects of its occupation.
US foreign military financing accounts for 25 percent of Israel’s defence budget. More than one quarter of those funds can be spent on Israeli-manufactured equipment, known as off-shore procurement, definitely helpful in building its own military industrial complex. Our largess, unique to Israel, has allowed it to grow into the world’s sixth largest arms exporter.
Israel is not a tiny country surrounded by hostile neighbours as its propaganda continues to suggest. It is a powerhouse that not only has the most advanced military capability in the Middle East but has a nuclear arsenal as well.
$28bn to Israel
So why the demands for “bunker busters” and increased military aid, including funds for missile defence systems?
Simply put, with the newly reconstructed 30,000-lb “massive ordnance penetrators,” Israel would be able to attack Iran on its own with bombs powerful enough to reach fortified bunkers well below the earth’s surface. Currently, the US is near the end of a 10-year, $30-billion aid package to Israel. It expires in 2017 and already President Obama has pledged to renew the Memorandum of Understanding at the increased level of $45 billion through 2028. It’s true that this is separate from appeasement deals currently being cut. But taken as whole, it is clear Israel will continue to exploit the Iran deal until it gets what it wants.
Time and again, international studies, such as the Goldstone Report, the UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict, and reports by Defense of Children International – Palestine section, among others, have shown that in contravention of international law Israel uses its weapons against a civilian population; that it has used chemical weapons such as white phosphorus; and that military forces routinely subject children to arrests, abuse and torture, for example. The US Arms Export Control Act forbids a recipient of US foreign aid from using American weapons or weapons purchased with American money against a civilian population.
Israel violates these laws with impunity. Until the United States ties its rhetoric on human rights, settlement expansion and ending the occupation with an economic incentive - that is, withholding US aid until Israel complies with international and American laws - things won’t change and, in fact, could get worse. Throwing more weaponry and money at Israel to quiet its anger over the Iran deal will just inflame the situation.
A diverse group of 11 social justice organisations in the United States is trying to avert new weapons and funds transfer to Israel. To date, nearly 50,000 people have signed the #NoWeapons4Israel petition targeting President Obama.
While coalition members realise it will likely not stop a process already in motion, the hope is that by gathering such a significant number of signatures the Obama administration will have to accept the fact vast numbers of Americans do not want to pay for the military subjugation of the Palestinian people or for Israel’s war on Iran. And as the grassroots says “no weapons for Israel,” tens of thousands of people also are saying the only way toward peace and regional stability is to end the occupation by stopping the transfer of US aid and military assistance to Israel.
- Kristin Szremski is an award-winning journalist, who has covered Middle East issues for the past 15 years. This article was published in the Middle East Eye.
19 sept 2015
After months of chilly relations between Israel and U.S. over Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. Administration provided last week $ 268 million for “Israeli missile defense”, and $351 million for the Iron Dome system.
According to Yediot Aharanot Newspaper, the United States has committed three years ago to provide more than $176 million in security aid to Israel.
Earlier last year, U.S. Senate approved a spending bill that would provide Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system with $176 million dollars.
The U.S. allocation for Israel also includes $ 268 million to develop “Israeli missile defense”.
The declared funds are not a part of the U.S. annual military aid to Israel which has amounted to $3.1 billion.
According to Yediot Aharanot Newspaper, the United States has committed three years ago to provide more than $176 million in security aid to Israel.
Earlier last year, U.S. Senate approved a spending bill that would provide Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system with $176 million dollars.
The U.S. allocation for Israel also includes $ 268 million to develop “Israeli missile defense”.
The declared funds are not a part of the U.S. annual military aid to Israel which has amounted to $3.1 billion.
26 aug 2015
US congresswoman Betty McCollum has asked the State Department to investigate whether the unlawful killing Palestinians should deprive Israel of US military aid.
In a letter to the State Department officials last week, the Minnesota Representative said that the deaths of Nadim Nowarah and Mohamed Odeh, in May of 2014, demonstrated the “brutal system of occupation that devalues and dehumanises Palestinian children.”
The two Palestinian youths, aged 16 and 17, were killed when Israeli troops assaulted a peaceful protest outside the West Bank city of Ramallah during the Nakba Day, an annual commemoration of Palestinian forceful displacement by Zionist in 1948.
“It is time for a strong and unequivocal statement of US commitment to the human rights of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation,” McCollum wrote in the August 18 letter, which was released to the public on Monday, according to Days of Palestine.
McCollum urged State Department officials to determine whether the killing of the teens was in violation of the Leahy Act.
The Leahy Act is a US human rights law that prohibits the State and Defence departments from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.
In a CCTV video posted by the Palestine division of Defence for Children International, a global NGO, appears to show one teen being shot as he walked by a gas station after the protest had subsided.
The second Palestinian teen appears to have been shot shortly afterwards.
Initially, the Israeli occupation army maintained that only nonlethal dispersal methods were used by troops during the Nakba Day demonstration.
An autopsy performed by Palestinian and Israeli pathologists in June, however, found that Nawara was almost certainly killed by live fire, most likely from an Israeli weapon.
Following the announcement of autopsy outcomes, an Israeli military investigation into the shooting, carried out following the autopsy, found that an Israeli border policeman had illegally used live ammunition during the protest.
In a letter to the State Department officials last week, the Minnesota Representative said that the deaths of Nadim Nowarah and Mohamed Odeh, in May of 2014, demonstrated the “brutal system of occupation that devalues and dehumanises Palestinian children.”
The two Palestinian youths, aged 16 and 17, were killed when Israeli troops assaulted a peaceful protest outside the West Bank city of Ramallah during the Nakba Day, an annual commemoration of Palestinian forceful displacement by Zionist in 1948.
“It is time for a strong and unequivocal statement of US commitment to the human rights of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation,” McCollum wrote in the August 18 letter, which was released to the public on Monday, according to Days of Palestine.
McCollum urged State Department officials to determine whether the killing of the teens was in violation of the Leahy Act.
The Leahy Act is a US human rights law that prohibits the State and Defence departments from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.
In a CCTV video posted by the Palestine division of Defence for Children International, a global NGO, appears to show one teen being shot as he walked by a gas station after the protest had subsided.
The second Palestinian teen appears to have been shot shortly afterwards.
Initially, the Israeli occupation army maintained that only nonlethal dispersal methods were used by troops during the Nakba Day demonstration.
An autopsy performed by Palestinian and Israeli pathologists in June, however, found that Nawara was almost certainly killed by live fire, most likely from an Israeli weapon.
Following the announcement of autopsy outcomes, an Israeli military investigation into the shooting, carried out following the autopsy, found that an Israeli border policeman had illegally used live ammunition during the protest.
24 aug 2015
The F-35 or 'Adir'
New technologies will allow the IDF to conduct more challenging missions, while shortening response times in search and rescue operations.
The IDF has recently been undergoing a new process of modernization, with the military's future fighter aircraft advancing further in its development schedule, and with new concrete busting technology set to revolutionize Israeli rescue operations.
Sixteen months before the arrival of the IAF's newest F-35A aircraft, the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin has conducted a successful first test of the aircraft's four barrel Gatling gun. The tests where conducted on the ground in the beginning of the month at Edwards Air Force base in California.
During the test, 181 25 mm bullets where fired from the F-35A's multi barrel cannon. Lockheed Martin said in a statement that the cannon is fixed in the aircraft's left wing base in order to allow for accurate fire during air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
The futurist aircraft, which has been named "Adir" ("Mighty") by the IAF, is set to complete ground testing for its cannon this month. Aerial testing is set to be completed by the fall. The aircraft's testing period is set to end in 2017. The F-35A is set to field an operational cannon along with additional offensive combat systems, including internal weapons bays which help the aircraft maintain its stealthy radar signature.
Israel currently plans to purchase two squadrons of the future generation fighter. The purchase and absorption of the first squadron of 19 aircraft is set to be completed by 2019. The first team of squadron personnel has already been established at Nevatim airbase, where the F-35A will be based, and includes the first pilots to undergo transitional training on the F-35A in the US, as well as a squadron commander. In recent months, Nevatim airbase has received the F-35's immersive simulator which will help enhance pilot training.
Life saving tech
New technologies will allow the IDF to conduct more challenging missions, while shortening response times in search and rescue operations.
The IDF has recently been undergoing a new process of modernization, with the military's future fighter aircraft advancing further in its development schedule, and with new concrete busting technology set to revolutionize Israeli rescue operations.
Sixteen months before the arrival of the IAF's newest F-35A aircraft, the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin has conducted a successful first test of the aircraft's four barrel Gatling gun. The tests where conducted on the ground in the beginning of the month at Edwards Air Force base in California.
During the test, 181 25 mm bullets where fired from the F-35A's multi barrel cannon. Lockheed Martin said in a statement that the cannon is fixed in the aircraft's left wing base in order to allow for accurate fire during air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
The futurist aircraft, which has been named "Adir" ("Mighty") by the IAF, is set to complete ground testing for its cannon this month. Aerial testing is set to be completed by the fall. The aircraft's testing period is set to end in 2017. The F-35A is set to field an operational cannon along with additional offensive combat systems, including internal weapons bays which help the aircraft maintain its stealthy radar signature.
Israel currently plans to purchase two squadrons of the future generation fighter. The purchase and absorption of the first squadron of 19 aircraft is set to be completed by 2019. The first team of squadron personnel has already been established at Nevatim airbase, where the F-35A will be based, and includes the first pilots to undergo transitional training on the F-35A in the US, as well as a squadron commander. In recent months, Nevatim airbase has received the F-35's immersive simulator which will help enhance pilot training.
Life saving tech
The CIRT in action
The IDF's Homefront Command has recently taken delivery of the CIRT (control impact rescue tool), and has already put it to the test in an exercise with the combat soldiers of the command's national search and rescue unit. The exercise was held in the run up to the system being declared fully operational in the coming weeks. Until recently, the sole operator of the rescue tool was the US National Guard.
The new tool is set to usher a real revolution within the Homefront Command's national search and rescue unit, allowing teams to reach victims trapped under rubble in record time. The tool is useful in all rescue operations be it caused by the destruction from a missile attack in a future war, or in the wake of a deadly earthquake, or a possible building collapse.
The concrete smashing tool can break through 20 cm-thick reinforced concrete, including bunker or reinforced room walls, which are common in Israeli homes. The system unleashes the power of 3,000 Joules (a unit of energy measurement) in a blow, compared to the 100 Joules produced by the current top of the line concrete breaking hammers in the command's inventory.
The new tool can smash a 40-50cm diameter hole in a concrete wall, and is five times faster in reaching a victim. The tool allows rescue teams to punch a hole big enough for a rescuer or a stretcher through rubble in a matter of only 10 minutes, compared to the 40 minutes to an hour with the previous tools.
"Time is a critical factor in saving the life of an injured person who is trapped between the ruins, and possibly losing blood and could die as a result. The golden hour for saving a life in emergency medicine is primarily based in reaching the injured person quickly," the Homefront Command stated.
Video's on the link
The IDF's Homefront Command has recently taken delivery of the CIRT (control impact rescue tool), and has already put it to the test in an exercise with the combat soldiers of the command's national search and rescue unit. The exercise was held in the run up to the system being declared fully operational in the coming weeks. Until recently, the sole operator of the rescue tool was the US National Guard.
The new tool is set to usher a real revolution within the Homefront Command's national search and rescue unit, allowing teams to reach victims trapped under rubble in record time. The tool is useful in all rescue operations be it caused by the destruction from a missile attack in a future war, or in the wake of a deadly earthquake, or a possible building collapse.
The concrete smashing tool can break through 20 cm-thick reinforced concrete, including bunker or reinforced room walls, which are common in Israeli homes. The system unleashes the power of 3,000 Joules (a unit of energy measurement) in a blow, compared to the 100 Joules produced by the current top of the line concrete breaking hammers in the command's inventory.
The new tool can smash a 40-50cm diameter hole in a concrete wall, and is five times faster in reaching a victim. The tool allows rescue teams to punch a hole big enough for a rescuer or a stretcher through rubble in a matter of only 10 minutes, compared to the 40 minutes to an hour with the previous tools.
"Time is a critical factor in saving the life of an injured person who is trapped between the ruins, and possibly losing blood and could die as a result. The golden hour for saving a life in emergency medicine is primarily based in reaching the injured person quickly," the Homefront Command stated.
Video's on the link
22 aug 2015
US president says Washington will increase military aid to Israel for development of anti-missile systems and tunnel detection technologies; in letter to Congressman, Obama insists he will respond firmly if Iran fails to meet commitments.
US President Barack Obama has committed in writing to increase American military aid to Israel for the development of anti-missile systems, as well as to accelerate cooperation on the development of tunnel detection technologies.
"Our governments should identify ways to accelerate the ongoing collaborative research and development for tunnel detection and mapping technologies to provide Israel new capabilities to detect and destroy tunnels because they could be used to threaten Israeli civilians," Obama said in a letter dated August 19, published in full by the New York Times on Friday, to Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat in the House of Representatives who announced that he will vote to approve the accord.
In the letter, Obama promises to increase cooperation with Israel and with the United States' allies in the Gulf in the fight against Iran's efforts to destabilize the region by supporting the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"My administration is prepared to enhance the already intensive joint efforts underway to identify and counter the range of shared threats we face in the region, as well as increase missile defense funding so that Israel and the United States can accelerate the co-development of the Arrow-3 and David's Sling missile defense systems," he writes.
He also notes that he has "proposed to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we begin a process aimed at further strengthening our efforts to confront conventional and asymmetric threats."
The American president further states his administration intends to continue talks with Israel on a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding on foreign military financing that "would cement for the next decade our unprecedented levels of military assistance."
On top of receiving over $20.5 billion in foreign military financing since 2009, Israel is due to receive another $3.1 billion installment of foreign military aid from the US, Obama states.
He notes his administration invested an additional #3 billion in Iron Dome, as well as other missile-defense systems.
The president keeps detailing American military assistance to Israel, saying Israel has been provided with "unparalleled access to some of the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will be delivered in 2016." Israel, Obama says, is the only Middle East nation to which the US has sold the fifth-generation aircraft.
"More recently, I authorized an unprecedented $1.879 billion multi-year munitions resupply package that will provide Israel continued access to state-of-the-art precision-guided munitions, including penetrating munitions (the BLU-113 super penetrator), Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits, and air-to-air missiles, all of which will give the Israel government access to the most sophisticated arsenal for years to come," Obama adds. "I also have offered Israel the V-22 Osprey - a hallmark US air platform - which the Israeli government has chosen not to procure at this time."
Military option to remain available
The letter mostly aims to assuage concerns by senators and congressmen about the deal aimed to curb its nuclear program, and to that end Obama vows the United States will respond firmly if Iran fails to honor the accord.
"We have a wide array of unilateral and multilateral responses that we can employ if Iran fails to meets its commitments," Obama said.
Obama reiterated his view that the accord reached last month in Vienna is good for the United States, Israel and the Middle East in general.
The president also insisted, as he has many times, that all options remain on the table if Iran does not abide by the accord.
The agreement lifts economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions and other measures designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
"All of the options available to the United States – including the military option – will remain available through the life of the deal and beyond," Obama said.
Obama also promises to use a multinational commission policing the accord to block Iranian procurement of nuclear-related technology.
The letter was released as opponents of the accord wage a fierce campaign against it ahead of a vote in Congress in September.
Opponents say the accord goes too easy on Iran, by not allowing spot inspections of nuclear sites or forcing it to halt support of militant groups, for instance.
So far only two Democratic senators – Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez – have come out publicly against the accord.
According to a Reuters tally, Obama is eight votes away from capturing one-third of the Senate, or 34 senators, with about a month remaining to find the additional support he needs.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, which is tracking lawmakers' positions, said on Thursday that 69 House members now support the Iran deal, with another 140 in the 435-member chamber still undeclared. Obama would need the support of at least 146 House members to safeguard the agreement in that chamber.
In days ahead, much attention will focus on senators Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, both senior Democrats from Maryland who have not yet staked out a position.
It is unlikely that opponents can muster the two-thirds majority they would to override a certain Obama veto if an initial vote by lawmakers rejects the accord.
Nadler said Friday he supports it.
It is not perfect, but it "gives us the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," he said in a statement.
Nadler said he had reached this conclusion from his perspective as "an American Jew who is both a Democrat and a strong supporter of Israel."
The accord, vehemently opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has sharply divided the US Jewish community.
US President Barack Obama has committed in writing to increase American military aid to Israel for the development of anti-missile systems, as well as to accelerate cooperation on the development of tunnel detection technologies.
"Our governments should identify ways to accelerate the ongoing collaborative research and development for tunnel detection and mapping technologies to provide Israel new capabilities to detect and destroy tunnels because they could be used to threaten Israeli civilians," Obama said in a letter dated August 19, published in full by the New York Times on Friday, to Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat in the House of Representatives who announced that he will vote to approve the accord.
In the letter, Obama promises to increase cooperation with Israel and with the United States' allies in the Gulf in the fight against Iran's efforts to destabilize the region by supporting the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"My administration is prepared to enhance the already intensive joint efforts underway to identify and counter the range of shared threats we face in the region, as well as increase missile defense funding so that Israel and the United States can accelerate the co-development of the Arrow-3 and David's Sling missile defense systems," he writes.
He also notes that he has "proposed to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we begin a process aimed at further strengthening our efforts to confront conventional and asymmetric threats."
The American president further states his administration intends to continue talks with Israel on a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding on foreign military financing that "would cement for the next decade our unprecedented levels of military assistance."
On top of receiving over $20.5 billion in foreign military financing since 2009, Israel is due to receive another $3.1 billion installment of foreign military aid from the US, Obama states.
He notes his administration invested an additional #3 billion in Iron Dome, as well as other missile-defense systems.
The president keeps detailing American military assistance to Israel, saying Israel has been provided with "unparalleled access to some of the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will be delivered in 2016." Israel, Obama says, is the only Middle East nation to which the US has sold the fifth-generation aircraft.
"More recently, I authorized an unprecedented $1.879 billion multi-year munitions resupply package that will provide Israel continued access to state-of-the-art precision-guided munitions, including penetrating munitions (the BLU-113 super penetrator), Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits, and air-to-air missiles, all of which will give the Israel government access to the most sophisticated arsenal for years to come," Obama adds. "I also have offered Israel the V-22 Osprey - a hallmark US air platform - which the Israeli government has chosen not to procure at this time."
Military option to remain available
The letter mostly aims to assuage concerns by senators and congressmen about the deal aimed to curb its nuclear program, and to that end Obama vows the United States will respond firmly if Iran fails to honor the accord.
"We have a wide array of unilateral and multilateral responses that we can employ if Iran fails to meets its commitments," Obama said.
Obama reiterated his view that the accord reached last month in Vienna is good for the United States, Israel and the Middle East in general.
The president also insisted, as he has many times, that all options remain on the table if Iran does not abide by the accord.
The agreement lifts economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions and other measures designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
"All of the options available to the United States – including the military option – will remain available through the life of the deal and beyond," Obama said.
Obama also promises to use a multinational commission policing the accord to block Iranian procurement of nuclear-related technology.
The letter was released as opponents of the accord wage a fierce campaign against it ahead of a vote in Congress in September.
Opponents say the accord goes too easy on Iran, by not allowing spot inspections of nuclear sites or forcing it to halt support of militant groups, for instance.
So far only two Democratic senators – Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez – have come out publicly against the accord.
According to a Reuters tally, Obama is eight votes away from capturing one-third of the Senate, or 34 senators, with about a month remaining to find the additional support he needs.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, which is tracking lawmakers' positions, said on Thursday that 69 House members now support the Iran deal, with another 140 in the 435-member chamber still undeclared. Obama would need the support of at least 146 House members to safeguard the agreement in that chamber.
In days ahead, much attention will focus on senators Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, both senior Democrats from Maryland who have not yet staked out a position.
It is unlikely that opponents can muster the two-thirds majority they would to override a certain Obama veto if an initial vote by lawmakers rejects the accord.
Nadler said Friday he supports it.
It is not perfect, but it "gives us the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon," he said in a statement.
Nadler said he had reached this conclusion from his perspective as "an American Jew who is both a Democrat and a strong supporter of Israel."
The accord, vehemently opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has sharply divided the US Jewish community.
30 july 2015
Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, slammed the United States of America for supplying Israel with stealth aircraft.
Hamas’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, in a press statement on Thursday, the American supply of stealth aircraft to the Israeli occupation is a shameful action considered as actual participation in Israeli war crimes committed against the Palestinians people.
Barhoum considered the action an official support of the Israeli terrorism especially after the amnesty international report which confirmed that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza on “Black Friday” when Israel targeted ambulances and deliberately killed people most of whom kids in streets and houses by American-made war aircraft.
Hamas’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, in a press statement on Thursday, the American supply of stealth aircraft to the Israeli occupation is a shameful action considered as actual participation in Israeli war crimes committed against the Palestinians people.
Barhoum considered the action an official support of the Israeli terrorism especially after the amnesty international report which confirmed that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza on “Black Friday” when Israel targeted ambulances and deliberately killed people most of whom kids in streets and houses by American-made war aircraft.
27 july 2015
New 3D printer can manufacture spare parts for fighter jets within hours, while a new American robot can do a job that takes five soldiers four days to do - in one night.
An international breakthrough in the aviation world will land in Israel in less than a month when the Israel Air Force receives a 3D printer that can manufacture spare parts for fighter jets and Israeli helicopters.
The printer, acquired from an American company for hundreds of thousands of dollars, has already been tested in secret over the past few months, printing a part for the Israeli Eitan drone, the largest of the IAF's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
At first, the printer will print relatively small components out of polymer, which is considered a high-quality plastic material, as part of a pilot, and at a later stage, it will also print metal parts. In the first stage, the printer will only be able to print parts that are no bigger than one meter in length.
"We've conducted experiments on the ground with the parts that were printed and installed onto the planes, and it was successful," a senior IAF officer told Ynet. "We also got engine parts that were printed, and in the 3D era we could, in the future, print generators for planes, bearings or a full engine for an aircraft, with the pistons already inside.
The vision is, of course, to print an entire plane." According to the officer, the IAF plans to utilize the printer for fast manufacturing of parts such as air ducts for the plane. The American Air Force already started working with 3D printers, but according to the IAF officer "they too are still only in initial stages."
The British Royal Air Force made history six months ago when a Tornado fighter jet took off with printed replacement parts. Now, the Israeli Air Force will become one of the few Western armies bringing the 3D revolution into its airbases for the maintenance of airplanes. "This move will quickly return the investment," the IAF officer told Ynet. "The main advantage of the printer is that you are no longer limited in geometry. For example, when you want to create a space inside a block of aluminum or a ring inside a ring. In addition, we will no longer need to keep storerooms full of spare parts.
Missing a part? Print it within hours." Meanwhile, the Air Force's air maintenance unit, in which engineers serve alongside dozens of technicians, will soon receive an American robot that can disassemble and reassemble screws from airplanes. The robot can independently disassemble, among other things, wing covers of fighter jets.
This will significantly reduce the manpower needed for the maintenance unit. At present, a team of five soldiers manually disassembles the 3,000 screws attached to the plane's wings in four days, and a similar procedure recurs when the screws are put back on. The new robot can disassemble the thousands of screws in one night, saving invaluable time.
"The next stage will be to purchase a robot that can remove paint from planes, during maintenance work to renew the paint," officials in the IAF said.
An international breakthrough in the aviation world will land in Israel in less than a month when the Israel Air Force receives a 3D printer that can manufacture spare parts for fighter jets and Israeli helicopters.
The printer, acquired from an American company for hundreds of thousands of dollars, has already been tested in secret over the past few months, printing a part for the Israeli Eitan drone, the largest of the IAF's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
At first, the printer will print relatively small components out of polymer, which is considered a high-quality plastic material, as part of a pilot, and at a later stage, it will also print metal parts. In the first stage, the printer will only be able to print parts that are no bigger than one meter in length.
"We've conducted experiments on the ground with the parts that were printed and installed onto the planes, and it was successful," a senior IAF officer told Ynet. "We also got engine parts that were printed, and in the 3D era we could, in the future, print generators for planes, bearings or a full engine for an aircraft, with the pistons already inside.
The vision is, of course, to print an entire plane." According to the officer, the IAF plans to utilize the printer for fast manufacturing of parts such as air ducts for the plane. The American Air Force already started working with 3D printers, but according to the IAF officer "they too are still only in initial stages."
The British Royal Air Force made history six months ago when a Tornado fighter jet took off with printed replacement parts. Now, the Israeli Air Force will become one of the few Western armies bringing the 3D revolution into its airbases for the maintenance of airplanes. "This move will quickly return the investment," the IAF officer told Ynet. "The main advantage of the printer is that you are no longer limited in geometry. For example, when you want to create a space inside a block of aluminum or a ring inside a ring. In addition, we will no longer need to keep storerooms full of spare parts.
Missing a part? Print it within hours." Meanwhile, the Air Force's air maintenance unit, in which engineers serve alongside dozens of technicians, will soon receive an American robot that can disassemble and reassemble screws from airplanes. The robot can independently disassemble, among other things, wing covers of fighter jets.
This will significantly reduce the manpower needed for the maintenance unit. At present, a team of five soldiers manually disassembles the 3,000 screws attached to the plane's wings in four days, and a similar procedure recurs when the screws are put back on. The new robot can disassemble the thousands of screws in one night, saving invaluable time.
"The next stage will be to purchase a robot that can remove paint from planes, during maintenance work to renew the paint," officials in the IAF said.