Prime minister's office releases statement saying Netanyahu feels the pain of the Shalit family and that actions to return Gilad safe and sound are continuing.
The family of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit marked the 1,700th day of his captivity on Saturday along with hundreds of supporters in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
Hundreds mark Gilad Shalit's 1,700th day in captivity with rally outside Netanyahu's house
Shalit was captured by Gaza-based militants in a cross-border raid in 2006.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas over his return in exchange for the release of Hamas prisoners have thus far been fruitless.
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.
The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.”
Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile . . .
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia -- In a town hall on the campus of the University of West Virginia, a young Air Force ROTC cadet asked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen to respond to a “rumor.” If Israel decided to attack Iran, the speculation went, those jet would need to fly through Iraqi airspace to reach their targets. That airspace is considered a “no-fly” zone by the American military. So might U.S. troops shoot down the Israeli jets, the airmen asked the chairman, if they breached that airspace?
Here's the STORMBRINGER take: This non-answer does not necessarily imply that the United States will take drastic measures against our Israeli allies. The man is being as politically correct and tactfully discreet as possible - and though I ordinarily find the PC mindset repugnant, in this case Admiral Mullen must choose his words very carefully because he represents the military arm of the United States government.
Americans serving in Iraq have been on the receiving end of Iranian rockets smuggled to militants in Iraq for years. Iranian EFPs have also killed a number of Americans. I am certain of two things: there are American servicemen & women who would hesitate when given an order to fire upon Israeli targets - particularly enroute to bomb Iran; and the Command I'm sure is contemplating this scenario.
The sad fact of the matter is we had our opportunity to smash the Iranian Fundamentalist Islamic Revolution in it's infancy and we hesitated - or should I say Jimmy Carter hesitated. The ball was in his court and he balked. IF the day after our embassy was taken down on November 4, 1979, the 82D had jumped on to Tehran Airport and moved on the city . . . well, we wouldn't be having half the problems we're having with these people now.
But instead we've got what we've got going on now, and this thing is going to go on for the next hundred years.
"While Sneh is no longer in the Israeli government, his revelation of a drop-dead date for an Israeli military strike on Iran must be taken seriously, Israel-watchers in the U.S. tell Newsmax.
“Ephraim Sneh is a serious guy,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “He was deputy minister of defense and has long been focused on the issue of Iran.”
Shoshana Bryen, Senior Director for Security Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), said that what struck her most about Sneh’s comments was the shift of emphasis from resolving the Palestinian problem to Iran.
“For 30 years, he’s been saying that solving the Palestinian problem is Israel’s biggest priority. Now he’s saying, forget about the Palestinians. Iran is the problem.”
Sneh “is extremely well regarded on the left and the right,” she added. “People respect him enormously.”
In his Op-Ed, Sneh argues that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to mend its bridges with the United States, and the only way to do so is by enacting an immediate and total ban on any settlement activity, including in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem."
Remember that piece I wrote about women in the military? I took a lot of flak over that (mostly from people who, by their own admission, never served a day in uniform).
Here's a woman I'd have on my team, any day:
She can obviously KICK ASS ! ! !
All I want to know is; I do ten times MORE than that, every day. How come I can't make my "dunlap" go away ? ? ?
"The female of the species is more deadly than the male."
The women of the IDF talk the talk, and they walk the walk.
Women were allowed to become fighter pilots in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) after a landmark court ruling in 1995. In the year 2000, Israel's military service law was amended to allow women to serve in any capacity that male soldiers serve, including combat units. Israeli women serve in the infantry or mechanized units, or any other combat occupation. They make up a third of the IDF, and are treated as equals with males.
The United States military started allowing women to serve in direct combat support units, such as Military Police, in the late 80's. During Operation Just Cause - the Panama invasion - a female MP platoon leader was decorated for valor in combat.
According to current Department of Defense policy, women are not allowed to serve in ground combat units at the battalion level and below. But because of the highly mobile nature of modern warfare, there are no "front lines" one imagines in classic war scenarios.
Special operations units and irregular forces traditionally operate far behind enemy lines, choosing when & where they engage enemy forces, and their targets are quite often support & logistical units. During the initial stages of the Iraq War, our supply convoys experienced close ambushes and we took the heavy casualties - including women in non-combat MOS's.
Women are now integrated into almost every military role - only combat arms units remain the exclusive domain of men only. The Navy has women serving on all ships, and the Air Force has female pilots flying everything from C-130s to F-16s.
Army Sergeant Catherine Ross pulling security in a Stryker, Mosul, 2004.
The New York Times story 'WOMEN'S WORK' by Catherine Ross vividly demonstrates how the military’s policy on barring women from combat doesn’t match reality.
I know I'm going to take a lot of flak from my SF compadres over the sentiments expressed in this post. Here's what I've got to say to that: there are a lot of women I'd take on my team over some of the miserable excuses for soldiers I had to tolerate during my time in - especially toward the end when the X Box Generation started showing up.
Sean Linnane is the pseudonym of a retired Special Forces career NCO (1st SFG, 3d SFG, 10th SFG). I served with honor on five continents; I continue to serve in other capacities.
