JERUSALEM NEWS
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Events, happenings, and Opinions Concerning
Israel, Israelites, Judah, and Everyone Else
News, Views, Blues, Jews, and US
Jerusalem News 856
6 Iyar Nisan 5769, 30 April 2009
Contents:
1. What Israel does for the
U.S
2. Israel's population grows by 1.8% to 7,411,000.
3. IDF
Missile Threat Drill: Absorption of Thousands in Samaria
1. What Israel does for the
U.S
"What Israel Does for the United States, Parts I & II"
http://www.israpundit.com/2008/?p=12828
Selected Extracts Only:
[Part I - April 5, 2009]
Extracts:
Steve Carol:
Throughout the six decades since the Jewish people reestablished their
sovereignty in the land of Israel, an often-repeated claim has been made, indeed
we hear it now coming out of the Obama administration, that Israel is a draining
liability on the United States. This claim is bogus, and an examination of the
facts, hopefully, will consign this charge to the trashbin of history where it
belongs.
Lord Palmerston, British Foreign Secretary in 1848, said, it's one of my
favorite quotes, "A nation has no eternal friends, no perpetual enemies, only
eternal and perpetual interests." And that's why you can be Germany's enemy and
then Germany's friend, Japan's friend, then Japan's enemy, then Japan's friend.
Alright, the truth is the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is a two-way
partnership. For example, in 1952, as the Cold War got started, U.S. Army Chief
of Staff, Omar Bradley, called for the integration of Israel, which was only
four years old, into the Mediterranean basin area in light of the country's
location and unique capability. In 1967, Israel defeated a radical Arab
pro-Soviet theater offensive, which threatened to bring about the collapse of a
pro-American Arab regime in the region, disrupt oil supplies, and thus severely
undermine the American standard of living. The U.S. gained valuable military
information from an analysis of the Israeli-captured Soviet equipment, including
SAM 2, SAM 12, Mig 21 aircraft, Soviet T54 battle tanks. In fact, Israel gave an
entire squadron of Mig 21s to the United States, which was dubbed the "Top Gun
Squadron" and was used by the U.S. Air Force and naval forces for training
purposes.
Since 1967, Israel [has] transferred captured Soviet weaponry systems to the
United States Pentagon after every conflict: '67, '67-?70, '73, '82, 1990. They
even transferred SCUD remnants from the Gulf War that had been fired on Israel,
and the 2006 Hezbullah war against Israel, where they transferred missile
components supplied by Iran, to the United States.
In the 1967-?70 thousand day War of Attrition, The Israeli armed forces, armed
with American aircraft successfully defeated a Soviet-suppplied air defense
system, pointing out the deficiencies in Soviet air defense doctrine to U.S.
defense planners. Israel shared captured military equipment, including a P2
radar, [for] which they stormed an island, Green Island, dismantled this two-ton
radar and had it helicoptered, airlifted out, off the island, back to Israeli
lines, and then they turned it over to the United States.
In 1970, Israel brought about the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Jordan, at a
time when the U.S. was tied up by wars in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, thus
preventing the fall of the pro-American Hashemite regime and the installation of
a pro-Soviet, radical Palestinian terrorist regime.
In 1973, thanks to U.S. resupply, but without U.S. forces, Israel defeated
Soviet-trained and equipped Egyptian and Syrian forces. Israel again shared
captured Soviet equipment, including battle tanks, with the U.S. Israel emerged
as the only reliable ally, where U.S. troops could land, where U.S. equipment
can be prepositioned, where the U.S. has friendly port facilities in Haifa and
Ashdod, in the entire Middle East region. This too has saved the United States
billions of dollars. And the list goes on.
In the 1970?s, Joseph Cisco, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state,
assistant to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during the latter's "Shuttle
Diplomacy," told the Israeli author and military expert, and adviser to Menachem
Begin, Shmuel Katz, quote, "I want to assure you Mr. Katz, that if we were not
getting full value for our money, you would not get a cent from us," end of
quote.
In 1981 Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, delaying Saddam
Hussein's quest for nuclear weapons. It thus provided the United States with an
option of engaging in conventional wars with Iraq in 1991, when they liberated
Kuwait, and in 2003. Just imagine if Saddam had the bomb and we went to liberate
Kuwait, and in fact the past vice-president of the United States, Dick Cheney,
[had] a photo in his office, I'm sure he took it with him, of the bombed out
Iraqi reactor, to remind him of this invaluable service that Israel did for the
Free World, not just for Israel.
The vice-president of General Dynamics [Corp.], which produces the F16 fighter
jet, has stated that Israel is responsible for 600, that's six-zero-zero,
improvements in the plane's systems, modified by Israel to make the plane much
better, and it is estimated to be worth, these modifications, billions of
dollars, which spared dozens of research and development years for General
Dynamics.
In 1982 Israel destroyed Soviet anti-aircraft batteries in Lebanon that were
considered immune to American weapons. Israel promptly shared that operation's
lessons, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, with the United States.
Another item: Former Secretary of State and NATO commander Alexander Haig has
stated that he is pro-Israeli because Israel is the largest Ameican aircraft
carrier in the world, that [it] cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American
soldier and is located in a critical region for American national security.
Next: During the first Gulf War, in 1991, Israel provided invaluable
intelligence, an umbrella of air cover for military cargo, and had personnel
planted in the Iraqi desert to pick up downed American pilots.
Furthermore, General George Keegan, former head of the United States Air Force
intelligence division, had publicly declared, quote, that "Israel is worth five
CIAs," end of quote. He further stated that between 1974 and 1990, Israel
received $18.3 billion in U.S. military grants. During the same period Israel
provided the U.S. with $50 to $80 billion in intelligence, research and
development savings, and Soviet weapons systems captured and transferred by
Israel to the United States. In 2005 Israel provided America with the world's
most extensive experience in homeland defense in warfare against suicide bombers
and car bombs. American soldiers trained in IDF facilities and Israeli-made
drones fly above the Sunni triangle in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, providing
U.S. Marines with vital intelligence.
In September, 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a Syrian/North Korean
nuclear plant, extending the U.S.'s strategic arm. It provided the U.S. with
vital information on Russian air defense systems, which are also employed by
Iran. It bolstered the U.S. posture of deterrence and refuted the claim that
U.S.-Israel relations have been shaped by political expediency.
In 2009 Israel shared with the United States its battle-tested experience in
combatting Palestinian and Hezbullah terrorism, which are the role models of
anti-U.S. Islamic terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrary to what the
current administration labels as "overseas manmade disasters."
The U.S. GIs benefit from Israel's battle tactics against car bombs, improvised
explosive devices, and homicide bombing. An Israeli-like ally in the Persian
Gulf would have spared the need to dispatch U.S. troops to Iraq, Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia, and unfortunately there is no other country. Israel has relayed to
the United States, lessons of battle during the Cold War, Soviet military
doctrine and counterterrorism, including aircraft security, homicide/suicide
bombing, which reduce American losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent attacks
on U.S. soil, upgrade American weapons, and contribute to the U.S. economy.
Without Israel, the U.S. would have been forced to deploy tens of thousands of
American troops in the Eastern Mediterranean basin at a cost of billions of
dollars a year.
Senator Daniel Inouye [D-Hawaii] has recently, well a few years back, 2005,
argued: "Israeli information regarding Soviet arms saved the U.S. billions of
dollars. The contribution made by Israel's intelligence to the United States is
greater than that provided by all the other NATO allies of the United States
combined," said Senator Inouye.
Israel's utilization of American arms guarantees its existence, but at the same
time, it gives the U.S. military industries, such as Boeing and General
Dynamics, a competitive edge compared to European industries, while also
boosting American military production, producing American jobs and improving
America's national security.
Japan and South Korea, for example, preferred the Hawkeye spyplane and the MD500
chopper, both purchased and upgraded by Israel, over comparable British and
French aircraft.
The American industries want the U.S. aid to Israel to continue. The bulk of
that $1.8 billion in U.S. aid to Israel must be spent in the United States. That
provides jobs for some 50,000 U.S. workers. Virtually all of the $1.2 billion in
annual economic aid goes for repayment of debt to the United States, incurred
from military purchases going back many years. This debt is now close to being
liquidated, contrary to what some of our other allies still owe us.
Innovative Israeli technologies have a similar effect on civilian and computer
related industries and agricultural industries, which view Israel as a
successful research and development model. Members of the Congress, then
Vice-President Cheney and [former] Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld are aware of
Israel's unique contribution to our interest.
To conclude, what does Israel do for the United States? In contrast to our
commitments to South Korea, Japan, Germany and other parts of the world, not a
single American service person needs to be stationed in Israel. Considering that
the cost of one service person, per year, including backup and infrastructure,
is estimated to be about $200,000 per year, and assuming a minimum contingent of
25,000 troops, and we have much more in many of these places, the cost savings
to the United States, on that score alone, are on the order of $5 billion a
year. If anyone tells you Israel is a drain and we're just pouring money into it
and get nothing, tell them to take another swig of Koolaid and put their head
back in the sand, because they don't know the reality.
2. Israel's population grows by 1.8% to
7,411,000
Apr. 27, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710800974&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
There are 7,411,000 Israelis on the eve of our 61st Independence Day, according
to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday afternoon.
A year ago, the population was 7,282,000, and when Israel was established, it
was just 806,000.
About 75.5 percent, or 5,593,000, of Israelis are Jews, 1,498,000 are Arabs
(20.2%), while "Others" - immigrants and their offspring who are not registered
as Jews by the Interior Ministry - number 320,000 (4.3%).
Since last Independence Day, some 154,000 babies were born, and more than 12,000
immigrants have arrived.
The population grew during this period by approximately 125,000 - an increase of
1.8%.
Some 70% of the Jews are native Israelis, or 'sabras,' and at least half of them
are second-generation Israelis - compared with a native-born population of 35%
in 1948.
In 1948, there was only one city in Israel with more than 100,000 inhabitants -
Tel Aviv-Jaffa (248,000). Today, 14 cities number more than 100,000 people, of
which five have more than 200,000: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Rishon
Lezion and Ashdod.
3.
IDF
Missile Threat Drill: Absorption of Thousands in Samaria
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/131116
by Hillel Fendel
Extracts Only:
(IsraelNN.com) Samaria (Shomron) Regional Council head Gershon Mesika says that
the wide open expanses of the hilltops and valleys of his municipal council are
the answer to the dangerous population density in the Tel Aviv region.
The army and other government bodies recently held an exercise for emergency
scenarios in Samaria. Among them was a drill for the emergency absorption of
thousands of Jews in the region.
Though the IDF drill did not address the Iranian missile threat specifically,
Mesika's forward-looking headline is "The Shomron: The Response to the Iranian
Nuclear Threat."
Samaria, also known as the northern part of the West Bank, is the large hilly
area in the middle of Israel which lies just north of Jerusalem and east of Tel
Aviv.
"At present," Mesika writes in an article that will appear in the Our Land of
Israel weekly publication this Friday, "the reality is that over five million
people live in Gush Dan, the area known as 'between Hadera and Gedera' [roughly
540 square miles which encompass Greater Tel Aviv]. Aside from the environmental
and planning problems this causes, it sharpens the dangers we face from
non-conventional weapons."
"The more we encourage citizens to leave the low-lying and crowded Gush Dan area
and move to Samaria, the more the State of Israel will thus reduce the
non-conventional threat it faces" especially the threat emanating from Iran's
nuclear plant in Bushehr."
"The government of Israel must initiate a large-scale construction campaign in
the Samarian region and start building new communities in its wide expanses,
which are ready and waiting to absorb millions of Jewish residents."
No Country Could Survive Two State
Solution!
Map of Proposed Two State Solution
No Country Could Survive!
