IMRA
Security sources in Tel Aviv revealed the approval of US President Donald Trump of a broad plan to strengthen the capabilities of the Israeli army, to meet the “threat of a possible war with Iran.”
The plan includes increasing the number of US military units in Israel and expanding them regularly, and strengthening Israel’s defense capability to surpass Iranian ballistic missiles, the sources said.
In addition, Trump canceled a decision by former President Barack Obama to block refueling planes from Israel. He even decided to reverse this decision by supplying the Israeli Air Force with a large number of Boeing KC 46 refueling aircraft, which would enable the Israeli army to operate longer and more flexibly, against targets far from Israel.
Israeli sources pointed out that Obama, at the time, refused to supply Israel with an additional number of these aircraft, part of his policy to reduce the Israeli military capabilities to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The new Trump resolution was made in response to NATO’s well-known position, expressed by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last Saturday, in which he said NATO would not help Israel if it came under Iranian attack, stressing that the central objective was to achieve an international consensus on Iran’s exit from Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in London on Thursday that European countries “do not understand the new situation emerging in our world because of the Iranian nuclear project”.
“If Iran tries to work toward a nuclear bomb, Israel will work to ensure that Iran is not capable of acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said.
@ Michael S:
If Turkey were to take a hand, i NATO could become involved negatively., As NATO can only intervene if one of it’s members is attacked, they would stay out, but severely chastise Turkey for embroiling itself in a tussle outside especially against the Jewish State, which is the same as attacking the US these days…. when not being molested itself.. They would regard it as adventurism. And I’m sure that the US would press Turkey hard enough to turn it into Turkish Delight,…squishy.
Anything in warfare that Israel is involved in, has the automatic support of the US if not explicitly, then implicitly. You know those politicians and their shades of deniability etc. So I think Turkey is OUT for lunch in this matter.
We sometimes make speculations based on normal logic, but in the Middle East, we have to be (no pun) Turkish hagglers with Byzantine tendencies. Nothing is clear-cut.
My own comment above is only speculation, and it it turned out to be true, not a soul on this site would say…”Hey Edgar,,,you hit this one for a big home run; how bout giving me the numbers for the next big lottery win”…..”
Everyone is so intent on making his own special opinion known, that there is no inclination to comment on others if and when successful in their guesses, because that’s all they are, backed by certain reasoning since we are all intelligent posters, but still…although an “educated” one, not a kosher certainty. …….
@ Edgar G.:
Hi, Edgar.
I agree with your estimation. I think Israel is ready right now, to turn Iran into a whimpering, wounded puppy. If that happened, I expect the Turks would take up the slack against Israel.
The US and Israel APPEAR to be headed for some triumphant times in the coming months and years. During that time, my gut feeling is that Iran will collapse, with or without a war, and that Turkey will replace her as the main regional menace. My main concern is that Trump (and I suppose Netanyahu as well) will be seen as accomplishing this all single-handedly, by the power of his personality. This may be true for other world leaders as well, perhaps including Xi, Kim and Putin. Couple this with an advance or two in science and technology, and we are headed for a time of a surreal confidence in the abilities of man and men. God tends to come down severely and suddenly in seasons like this.
The news is making me sleepy. Goodnight 🙂
@ Edgar G.:
@ Sebastien Zorn
http://jcpa.org/article/the-disengagement-the-unanswered-question/
@ Michael S:
Nobody seems to have considered that even if the facilities themselves are not destroyed, -although induced seismic disturbances should do considerable damage further down- The entrances and escape routes could be brought down to such n extent that it might take months to mount a rescue, which would have to be conducted against constant harrying from above. The whole complex would be effectively put out of action enough not to work, plus the scientists and technicians involved could be badly injured from rockfalls , and die eventually from hunger and lack of air.
http://jcpa.org/article/the-disengagement-the-unanswered-question/
@ Sebastien Zorn:
Bush DID NOT come up with the idea to withdraw from Gaza. This was the idea of Sharon’s attorney came up with to change the subject and get relief from the Israeli media which was killing Sharon over graft with if I remember Greek Island land purchases.
A couple of Israeli writers wrote a book about it. I do not think it was ever in English.
The cover was the Bush letter saying it was recognizing the changed facts on the ground in Judea/Samaria need to taken into account in future peace agreement.
Condolesese Rice like many African-Americans related the Israelis and the Palestinians as analogues to the civil rights movement, with the Pals as the underdogs who were deprived by Israel. She was no friend of Israel. She was very knowledgeable about the Soviet Union and Russia but not the middle east. Bush was very naive and overly bright.
He made Israel allow Hamas to be in Palestinian elections and this really had horrible consequences.
@ Sebastien Zorn:
The aircraft we are talking about now is the KC-46 which the latest and greatest in refueling aircraft. I believe the USAF only recently obtained these. http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/32134
Israel will replace the Boeing 707s which are really OLD!
@ Sebastien Zorn:
Israel I believe never got these planes. Obama was demanding a approval of Israel usage against Iran. I believe Israel bought some older Boeing 707s maybe from Brazil and made them into refueling planes. Which is something Israel had done in the past.
You know Obama really had to look out for his number one ally Iran.
I just did the math and realized that Obama was elected in November 2008. The articles said that the U.S. denied Israel refueling planes in 2008 and 2009. That means both Bush and Obama denied Israel refueling capacity then. I wonder why Obama later allowed it. Neither President was friendly to Israel, actually, though Obama was more public about it. I remember Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice publicly harassing Bibi over settlements just as Hillary would afterward. Bush pressured Sharon to ethnically cleanse — there’s really no other word for it, “evacuate” is such a euphemism, as if all of those Jewish civilians were in the army, or something — Gush Katif. Recognition of Pal statehood as a goal. He must have known the Bush “letter” was worthless to any successor.
@ Bear Klein:
I googled: obama denies mid-air fueling capability to israel – and found, to my surprise, that whereas the Obama administration had refused Israel’s requests for refueling capacity in 2008, there are a number of articles between 2012 and 2016 saying that Israel was going to get them. https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+denies+mid-air+fueling+capability+to+israel&rlz=1CAACBD_enUS792US792&oq=obama+denies+mid-air+fueling+capability+to+israel&aqs=chrome..69i57.9888j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
@ Edgar G.:
Israel does not have the same mid-air refueling capabilities as the USA. That is what is new based on my understanding. If Israel does obtain this capability, together with the F-35s now, Israel could mount a serious attack on Iran and destroy their anti-aircraft weapons limiting potential damage to Israeli planes.
I find the article slightly ambiguous. “U.S. To Provide Israel With Modern Weapons…”
My understanding, reinforced by ample public announcements, is that Israel already has those “modern weapons”. Therefore, the heading should just have had the word “More” inserted at the correct place.
What the article clarifies is that the US is supplying MORE of those weapons, indeed, enough for any conflict that might ensue. And also to increase the amount of U.S.troops, “advisors” or “technicians” that they might euphemistically refer to them as.
That is showing the closeness of the allied bonds that join the two countries. One of the very largest and most powerful, together with one of the very smallest (but comparatively as powerful in different ways). We have no idea, beyond the often speculative news reports what Israel actually possesses in the way of armaments, other than what every industrialised country has. They very naturally do not blazon around what they actually do have.
And that’s exactly as it should be.
{Although that stupid Olmert made a bad slip about nuclear weapons one time which all seem to have either forgotten or ignored.}
Do you think Trump won’t continue keeping Israel with a military edge over its unfriendly neighbours? It will be very disappointing if Turkey gets F-35s.
You’re welcome, Buzz.
The israelnationalnews blog article I cited, contained an interesting insight: “bunker buster” munitions can be thwarted, to a degree, by burying one’s assets deeper and deeper. The answer to this, it to keep dropping new munitions into the “hole” made by the first ones. The effect is like a machine gun, rather than a single bullet. Because of the electronic infrastructure of planes like the F-35, multiple planes can actually follow one another in hitting EXACTLY the same target, one after the other. That is one of the beautiful things about this aircraft, and the reason I think we would be fools to let the turncoat Turks get their hands on them.
Thanks for that information, Michael.
“September 24, 20113:00 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
“Two years ago, the Obama Administration secretly authorized the sale of 55 deep-penetrating bombs — or bunker busters — to Israel. That’s according to an investigation by Newsweek magazine. The bombs could potentially be used in Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz talks with Eli Lake, the reporter who broke the story.”
— https://www.npr.org/2011/09/24/140773755/u-s-sells-bunker-busters-to-israel
“Unlike, the MOAB, these were only 5000 pound bombs. They were called the GBU-28 prototype but could be dropped from F-15 Fighters. The MOAB had to be dropped from a MC-130 Cargo plane. It is believed that Israel used the GBU-28 Bombs against the Syrian Nuclear facility built by North Korea on Sept. 6th. 2007. Unfortunately, the Iranian Nuclear facilities in Fordow near Qom are built 200 to 300 feet under a mountain to prevent most Bunker Busters from doing significant damage… An upgrade was then designed called the Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP)(GBU-57/B) which weighed 37,000 pounds and was designed to penetrate 200 feet deep of 5000psi hardened concrete.
“To destroy or disable the Iranian underground facilities the Pentagon envisages guiding two or more GBU-57/B’s to the same impact point in sequence extending the weapon’s burrowing power. In order for this to happen the MOP Bunker Busters would have to be carried by F-15 or F-35 Fighters”
— http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/9753
Israel is now the first and only country in the world, to use the F-35 in combat; and it reportedly also used this advanced aircraft for stealth flights over Iran.
The pieces are falling into place, for Israel to be ready and able to strike Iran, if need be; and the US under Trump appears willing to back them up.
My main concern is the Turks, that they are in line to acquire F-35s. Those would not be used against Iran, but against Israel.
How about the advanced bunker bombs and the bombers capable of delivering them? THAT would be helpful.