JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s national cyber chief Thursday officially acknowledged the country had thwarted a major cyber attack last month against its water systems, an assault widely attributed to arch-enemy Iran, calling it a “synchronized and organized attack” aimed at disrupting key national infrastructure. Yigal Unna did not mention Iran directly, nor did he comment on the alleged Israeli retaliation … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that continued rocket fire from Gaza is making another war against Palestinian militants in the coastal strip inevitable, his latest headline-grabbing announcement just days before he seeks re-election. Netanyahu said advanced plans were in place to strike Gaza and that he would decide the optimal timing of the offensive, given … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — The long shadow war between Israel and Iran has burst into the open in recent days, with Israel allegedly striking Iran-linked targets as far away as Iraq and crash-landing two drones in Hezbollah-dominated southern Beirut. These incidents, along with an air raid in Syria that Israel says thwarted an imminent Iranian drone attack, have raised tensions at … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s new military chief took office Tuesday, pledging to lead a “lethal, efficient and innovative army” into the future as it faces grave challenges along its borders. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi’s inauguration comes shortly after the military’s announcement that it has successfully completed its operation to destroy a network of cross-border tunnels dug by the militant group … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that Israel has struck hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, including a weapons facility in a weekend airstrike, as the military announced the discovery of a sixth and final tunnel dug by the Lebanese militant group for cross-border attacks. The statements marked a rare, public acknowledgement of Israeli … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s internal security service said Wednesday it was prepared to thwart any foreign intervention in the upcoming elections, after its director warned such efforts were being made by a world power, with suspicions falling on Russia. The unusual Shin Bet statement followed a TV report that Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman recently told a closed audience that … Read More
ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER (AP) — On a moonlit night, some two dozen Israeli soldiers in full battle gear march near a Lebanese border village with a bomb-sniffing dog, searching for explosives and infiltrators. Suddenly the force stops. Through night-vision goggles, two suspicious men appear over the ridge, holding what looks like binoculars. Could they be undercover Hezbollah guerrillas? Lebanese … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces unleashed a heavy bombardment against Iranian military installations in Syria on Thursday in retaliation for an Iranian rocket barrage on its positions in the Golan Heights, the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. Israel has long fought Iran through its proxies and with the new exchange each seemed to be … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s seizure of Iran’s purported nuclear program archive and the dramatic display of the documents taken from a facility in the heart of Tehran marked a rare case of Israel going public about the operations of its top-secret Mossad spy agency. The Mossad, long shrouded in mystery and mythology, is legendary in international intelligence circles for being … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military confirmed Wednesday it carried out the 2007 airstrike in Syria that destroyed what was believed to be a nuclear reactor, lifting the veil of secrecy over one of its most daring and mysterious operations in recent memory. Although Israel was widely believed to have been behind the Sept. 6, 2007, airstrike, it … Read More
ON THE ISRAEL-SYRIA FRONTIER, Golan Heights (AP) — The Israeli military on Wednesday promoted a comprehensive aid program to Syrian civilians harmed by their country’s civil war, marking a significant broadening of its involvement in a conflict of which it has tried to steer clear. In a tour of the volatile frontier, the military unveiled “Operation Good Neighbor,” which it … Read More
Yitzhak Ifat – Paratrooper from famous photo The iconic photo of three young battle-worn faces gazing up in wonder at Jerusalem’s Western Wall captured perhaps Israel’s most triumphant moment. The 1967 lightning-quick triumph over Egypt, Jordan and Syria that tripled the area Israel controlled represented the Jewish nation’s newfound strength and an emotional return to its biblical roots _ and the … Read More
JERUSALEM _ In many ways, Israel is at the forefront of the wall as defense barrier doctrine. It built a 250-kilometer (150-mile) structure that has halted an influx of African migrants across the Egyptian border, as well as a high-tech fence separating the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip from Israel and Syria from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in the north. But its … Read More
ELYAKIM MILITARY BASE, Israel (AP) — Between a collection of concrete buildings with Arabic graffiti that are designed to simulate a typical Lebanese village, dozens of Israeli officers are gearing up for their next battle with Hezbollah guerrillas. It’s a mission the Israeli military has focused on intensely in the decade since it fought an inconclusive month-long war with the … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The rare manslaughter conviction Wednesday of an Israeli soldier who fatally shot a badly wounded Palestinian attacker exposed a deepening rift between proponents of the rule of law and a burgeoning nationalist movement. The military court verdict against Sgt. Elor Azaria marked a victory for commanders seeking to preserve a code of ethics, but it … Read More