Latest news with #TheJerusalemPost
Leaders
2 days ago
- Politics
- Leaders
Israel to Block Entry of Madleen Aid Ship Heading to Gaza
Israeli military sources said that Israel would send a 'direct message' to Madleen, the sailing boat of Freedom Flotilla Coalition, not to enter Gaza, according to The Jerusalem Post. On Sunday, the aid ship set out from the Sicilian port of Catania in southern Italy on a mission to break 'Israel's siege' of the devastated territory, organizers said. The activists stated that they will try to reach the shores of Gaza and deliver some aids to Palestinians who are starving due to Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid. As a response, the Israeli military is reportedly deploying troops in the area and waiting for the ship's arrival. However, it did not reveal a specific plan of action. If those on board 'defy orders or provoke' the Israeli army, they may be arrested and transferred to Ashdod port for their deportation. Greta Thunberg on Board Greta Thunberg Operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the crew includes Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists. 'We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,' Thunberg said. The mission also seeks to raise 'international awareness' over the ongoing humanitarian crisis. 'Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it's not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide,' she added. Interestingly, 'Game of Thrones' actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent joined the crew. Israel has previously banned Hassan from entering due to her obvious opposition to the Israeli war on Gaza. Greta Thunberg and other activists 'We are breaking the siege of Gaza by sea, but that's part of a broader strategy of mobilizations that will also attempt to break the siege by land,' said activist Thiago Avila. Madleen is set to reach Gaza in the next few days. Related Topics: Aid Ship Sails to Gaza with Greta Thunberg on Board Germany Urges Israel to Increase Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Ex Biden Official Accuses Israel of Committing 'War Crimes' in Gaza Short link : Post Views: 2
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
'Incredible pride': 'Post' talks to IDF laser operator on cutting-edge defense of Israel
The breakthrough of the last week is only the beginning of the changes that operational military lasers will accomplish for the IDF. After the announcement that the IDF's new laser defense system has shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones during the war, along with a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announcement about its capabilities, IDF St.-Sgt.-Maj. A. told The Jerusalem Post in a recent exclusive interview that his time on the laser team protecting the country with this game-changing cutting-edge system has been 'incredible.' A. is a reservist who was stationed in the North to work on how to operate the laser in real combat situations, and who had spent time in the IDF's air defense units mostly over a decade ago, but returned to assist when the current war broke out. He said that he and everyone else had to learn how to best operate the laser in real time in the field, since it is essentially something that no one has ever done before. 'We received the system, we made adjustments while operating in the field, and we improved, with the [help of the] industry developers [Rafael], after we got a better understanding of what we needed to increase our shoot-down success,' said A. There was a small group that had operated a laser before them, and there were the scientific experts from Rafael whom A. could not praise enough, but there was no real manual or guidebook, as he and his team were writing a new page in history. Trying to develop lasers to shoot down aerial threats goes back to the 1980s in the US with the 'Star Wars' air defense program, but that program was a dismal failure. Although Raytheon in the US, as well as Britain, Russia, China, Germany, and Japan are all at various stages of developing laser defense systems, Rafael said on Wednesday that it is the only company that has moved beyond test firings to actual use in the field. In fact, defense sources said that some of these other countries, after announcing successful tests of their own lasers, have since visited Israel to try to work through problems they are still encountering in moving their lasers to the operational phase. For example, although Britain performed a successful test with its DragonFire laser in January 2024, as of March of this year, the earliest that it was planning on deploying the laser operationally was 2027. Also, in April of this year, Britain announced a successful test of a radio frequency directed energy weapon, but sources have told the Post that this kind of weapon is not only far from deployable, but has a number of weaker factors compared to laser defense. In February of this year, the US Navy reported on a 2024 successful test of its 60 kilowatt High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system. There are no reports on when it will be deployed. America is also working on the HELSI and HELCAP lasers with 300 kilowatts of firepower, but testing and deploying those systems appear to be even further off into the future. In contrast, we now know that after successful tests in 2022-2023, the IDF has been deploying the laser for real combat use since fall 2024, and that more systems of the laser will be deployed already by the end of this year. All of this means that A. and his team had almost no one to consult or compare notes with. Incidentally, returning to 'Star Wars,' A. was not particularly a fan of the movie saga or science fiction laser gunfights either, before he started to operate Israel's laser defense or after. Basically, he is interested in Israel's defense and nothing else. A. does have a family, and he did need the support of his wife and children to return to an intense and critical reserve duty of operating the laser. 'It was very emotional when you see the enemy rocket and the shoot-down moment gets closer, but then you don't let it get to its target. It's a source of pride that I cannot express,' added A. Moreover, he said that while to date the system was used primarily or exclusively in the North versus Hezbollah, and that he is not making decisions about locations for the system, he is confident that the new laser system could be 'used in the South or anywhere we will be. It will be very effective against threatening targets.' 'If we need to learn the challenges of a new area, we will learn,' he stated – with it being well published that all laser defense systems face challenges in maintaining sufficient heat levels and focus to destroy targets over certain distances, and encountering certain inclement weather, such as clouds. Further, he said that his team and the laser system had learned how to adjust to special maneuvering issues brought out by drones, which change their trajectory, unlike many rockets which follow a predictable arch-like pattern from the moment they are fired. Continuing, A. stated that he could not give enough credit to both his laser defense team, which had to learn how to operate a radical new air defense system with no real history, as well as the Rafael engineers who developed the seemingly 'science fiction' system and adjusted it frequently in real time to meet real life challenges. The number of soldiers involved in laser defense is still classified, but it can be estimated that at least dozens are already involved, and that with its growing success, this number will grow as well. Rafael said that aspects of the laser could even be handled by tiny teams of a few soldiers. 'There is no feeling like saving lives' with a new historic laser defense system, concluded A. One issue that A. did not comment on, but which Rafael revealed on Wednesday, is that its new lasers could eliminate the need for Israelis to run to bomb shelters when faced with most aerial threats. Rafael explained that a major advantage of its lasers – Iron Beam, Iron Beam M, and Lite Beam – is that they can shoot down enemy rockets and drones much earlier in the threat process. This means that, most of the time, no warning sirens or bomb shelters would be necessary. The reason would be that the light energy of the laser travels much faster than any interceptor in Israel's arsenal and would already potentially destroy the enemy aerial threat shortly after it launches, and invariably while still in enemy territory. In fact, because the laser fires so much faster, the IDF will also likely have more chances to hit a target that it initially misses, since it will know it has missed earlier on in the process. That means that Israelis would likely only hear a siren and need to run to bomb shelters in those rare cases where the laser system missed its target, then likely missed it multiple more times. Rafael's presentation of the three different laser systems comes as it expects to display the lasers' capabilities in a defense technology conference in Paris, June 16-22. The fact of Israel's participation in that conference will be significant, independent of the laser issue, though the laser will certainly be one of the lead items at the conference. In June 2024, France initially banned Israeli participation in a similar defense conference, but eventually allowed some Israeli participation after multiple rounds of legal battles in the French courts. In November 2024, France again banned Israel from participation in a naval conference and exercise. However, Israel may for the moment be getting some better cooperation for the upcoming defense conference, after Jerusalem threatened in late 2024-early 2025 to cut France out of involvement in policing the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire if it did not reverse some of its policies upsetting Israel. That said, Israel and France are still at loggerheads over a possible move by France to recognize Palestine as a state in the near future. SOME OTHER details that Rafael just recently revealed are that the Lite Beam is the smallest and most local short-range system of the three laser systems, which can be placed on individual ground forces vehicles and fires a 10 kilowatt beam. Iron Beam M fires a 250 millimeter, 50 kilowatt beam and can be mounted on large trucks for mobility, but cannot be placed as a minor additional system on individual vehicles. Sources also indicated that the Iron Beam M is not only generally mobile, but can even be fired while moving. The full-size Iron Beam fires a 450 millimeter, 100 kilowatt beam, is designed to remain stationary for periods of time, and cannot be fired while moving. However, it can, with advance planning, be moved around, just as Iron Dome batteries, over time, can be moved around. Of course, the breakthrough of the last week is only the beginning of the changes that operational military lasers will accomplish for the IDF. It will take a significant amount of time to adapt lasers for use by Israeli aircraft and especially to use them for both defense and offense. This is because there are many challenges with using lasers relating to turbulence, dust, clouds, and smoke, which are a partial issue even when the end target is up in the sky, but are a larger issue when the starting point is up in the sky. Also, if laser systems firing at enemy aerial threats must consider somewhat additional objects that could get hit by the laser after it continues through the object it hits, those considerations are much more complex for any aircraft firing on ground targets. In fact, due to that and other considerations, the impression was that the IDF has not even made it a priority to achieve such laser aircraft capabilities for the foreseeable future. Yet, sources have explained to the Post that the power and advantage of such a laser on aircraft would be massive: the ability to immediately reverse from defense to offense and vice versa. This is a power that aircraft usually lack when carrying missiles, which are generally tailored more for defensive or offensive purposes. Once the IDF sees more laser defense systems in action at the end of 2025, there could be major budget shifts to start to try a long plan toward integrating lasers on fighter jets. It is unknown what impact such laser developments will have on the question of whether to adapt existing fighter jets or to develop new fighter jets that are more optimal for lasers – with new fighter jet development often easily taking closer to a decade. In addition, it was unclear how quickly Rafael can roll out a larger volume of lasers that would be sufficient to handle a large volume of rockets or drone swarms, such as what Israel saw during the current war. A number of times Israel had to contend with 200-500 rockets or drones in a short period of time. It took years for Iron Dome to reach a volume of batteries sufficient to fight off mass rocket and drone attacks, and this even after the initial defense batteries were produced and deployed. Laser systems are also a big improvement over Iron Dome for reducing the cost of each shoot-down attempt. Each Iron Dome interceptor costs around $40,000, whereas each laser shot should cost around $3. However, developing each laser defense battery is still extremely expensive. Another major advantage of laser systems over Iron Dome, according to Rafael, is reducing the logistical burden. For example, Iron Dome interceptors are not merely a cost, they require significant distinct logistical operations for both storage and movement. Laser defense systems, in contrast, do not require special physical storage space for their 'interceptor,' because laser shots are simply made up of light energy created when the system fires.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Campaign against Qatar launched in streets of Israel
'Doha has been funding Hamas since long before 2006 through so-called charity groups,' an activist told The Jerusalem Post, rejecting the Gulf country's narrative Israelis from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv woke up last week to posters and placards warning againstQatar adorning different parts of the major cities. The grassroots campaign focused on Qatar's support for Hamas, ties to terror-endorsing figures such as Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheikh Youssef Qaradawi, and influence on US campuses, deeming the rich Gulf country a 'terrorist state' and leading to social media accounts that claimed to 'unmask Qatar.' The Jerusalem Post managed to contact one member of the anonymous collective of activists to hear more about the campaign and its goals and plans for the future. 'Our mission is to expose Qatar's toxic influence in Israel and the broader world,' they said. 'Through posters, social media, and a strategic PR campaign, this is a coordinated effort to go behind the wealthy Gulf state's whitewashed image, which has been carefully crafted and artificially inflated." They continued: 'Our goal is to reduce Qatar's influence in Israel while dismantling the false image its royal family has built through years of calculated public relations.' According to the activists, Qatar's presence in Israel stretches across various sectors, from academia, where it offers scholarships to students, to media, where the Qatari prime minister is often given what they described as 'undue legitimacy and stage presence.' The campaign officially launched with the intention of alerting Israelis to what the organizers see as Qatar's covert operations - 'both soft and sinister. For years, we were taught that Iran is our main threat,' the source commented, 'but nobody talked about Qatar, which funds terrorism with billions and promotes antisemitic narratives in the West.' The campaign began with dozens of volunteers. 'We hung thousands of posters and stickers in major cities and across university campuses. At the same time, we pushed concise, targeted content on social media.' The message was stark: Qatar is not a benign investor or neutral mediator; it is a 'state sponsor of terror with long-standing ties to groups like Hamas,' they argued. At the core of the campaign is the goal of disrupting what the organizers believe is Qatar's global messaging strategy. 'They hire the best PR firms in the world,' the source noted. 'But anyone who digs a little deeper sees the distortions and outright lies. The question we keep asking is: Why does their prime minister keep showing up in our media? It's because Israeli public opinion matters to them,' they added, referring to several interviews given by Qatari officials to Israeli outlets since the Israel-Hamas War began, including with the Post. One activist said that one of the campaign's strategic objectives is to hit Qatar where it hurts most - its international reputation. 'They care deeply about their image. A dent in their brand could actually push them to act differently in order to preserve it.' This includes, they hope, increased pressure on Qatar to play a more meaningful and honest role in the hostage crisis involving the Gulf country's protégé,Hamas. According to the organizer, their ultimate goal is for Israel to pass legislation declaring Qatar an enemy state. 'We can't let a country that bankrolls terror have unfettered access to our businesses, our institutions, or our academic circles. Especially not when they serve as patrons of the Muslim Brotherhood and its armed offshoots.' Notably, a bill to designate Qatar as a terror state was approved by the Ministers' Legislation Committee last month, but no further actions have been registered since. Asked about public response, the source said that reactions ranged from enthusiastic to skeptical. 'A lot of people backed us and even shared our materials. Others questioned the novelty of our claims, saying things like, 'We already know Qatar's a problem.'' But the campaigners believe this surface-level understanding isn't enough. 'People don't realize just how embedded Qatar has become. Just look at their involvement in Syria, where they're now paying public salaries, just like they used to in Gaza. Or Egypt, where they recently eased tensions with [Abdel Fattah el-] Sisi through billion-dollar investments.' When asked about the next phases of the campaign, the activists said they plan to double down on local awareness before expanding internationally. 'There are Qatari-linked academics here, a stadium named after Doha, and Israeli businesspeople who collaborate with them. These ties must be exposed.' The campaigners are also preparing new content to combat what they view as dangerous misconceptions. 'One common myth we're tackling is that the US and Israel 'forced' Qatar to support Hamas. That's simply not true. They were funding them long before 2006 through 'charity' channels controlled by the royal family.' They also highlighted the issue of Qatar's 'interest-driven' mediation in the hostage crisis. 'Qatar has a clear interest in keeping Hamas in power. That runs directly counter to our interest, which is to dismantle Hamas entirely and prevent another October 7.' 'After almost two years, the war continues, hostages remain in Gaza, and Qatar - despite all its 'mediation' - hasn't solved the problem it helped create. We need to stop treating them as an indispensable broker. Alternatives like Egypt, other Gulf states, or even the US exist. It's time to kick Qatar off the negotiation table.' The campaign maintains a presence across social media platforms under the handle @unmaskqatar on Instagram, X/Twitter, and Facebook. 'We encourage people to follow and share. Every voice matters.' Though operating outside the spotlight, the anonymous leader of this campaign hopes their message will resonate far beyond Israel's borders. 'We're not just fighting a PR battle,' the leader concluded. 'We're fighting for the integrity of our institutions, the safety of our country, and the truth.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Netanyahu puppeteering government's collapse to avoid cross-examination in trial
Sources within ultra-Orthodox parties told Kan News that Netanyahu is attempting to puppeteer the government's collapse to delay his cross-examination as part of his trial. Ultra-Orthodox parties have threatened to dissolve the government in recent weeks because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to delay his cross-examination as part of his trial, a senior official in the ultra-Orthodox parties told Kan News on Tuesday. "Based on this, we threatened to dissolve the government after the Shavuot holiday," the senior official said. "In recent days, we received a message that things would continue as normal, and now we are stuck," he added. Several haredi rabbis instructed parties in the coalition to leave the government, and Shas is expected to support a motion to dissolve the Knesset, The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday. Netanyahu is expected to lead a meeting on Thursday afternoon that Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein will also attend, in addition to Shas MK Ariel Attias and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fox, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed. Edelstein addressed the developments in a post on X/Twitter on Wednesday, writing that he did not support dissolving the Knesset and that he was seeking a solution. 'I am not in favor of disbanding the coalition or dissolving the government, and I do not share in the hatred of our haredi brothers,' he wrote. Sources in the ultra-Orthodox parties told Kan News that theUnited Torah Judaism Knesset members would ultimately not withdraw from the coalition. "If we go to elections over this crisis, they'll come after us. In the best-case scenario, we'll end up with the same government," the sources said. Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Syria accuses Israel of escalation following Daraa strike
The strike came after a barrage of rockets fired from southern Syria on Tuesday evening, which Defense Minister Katz said he held Syrian President Sharaa "directly responsible' for. Syria's foreign ministry condemned an Israeli strike on the Syrian province of Daraa, saying that it caused "significant human and material losses," state news agency SANA reported early on Wednesday. The strike came after a barrage of rockets fired from southern Syria on Tuesday evening, which Defense Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa "directly responsible' for. The Syrian foreign ministry stated it had not verified the accuracy of the IDF's claims of rockets. 'We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilize the region to achieve their own interests,' the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement. 'We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region, and that the top priority in southern Syria lies in extending the authority of the state and ending the presence of weapons outside the framework of official institutions, in a way that ensures the achievement of security and stability for all citizens,' the statement read. The ministry stated that Israel's response constituted a 'blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and increases tension in the region at a time when we are most in need of calm and peaceful solutions.' The IDF confirmed that initial rocket fire from Syria fell in an open area, causing no harm or damage. Minutes later, a second barrage of rockets was fired into northern Israel. It was unclear whether the second barrage towards northern Israel was fired from Syria. Defense sources told The Jerusalem Post that as of now, it is unclear whether the missile launch from Yemen and the rocket launch from Syria were coordinated, and sources noted that the military is investigating. Additionally, the sources said that the rockets were fired from deep in Syria, beyond the buffer zone with Israel, indicating that the entity that launched the rockets used a medium-range rocket. Sources also told the Post that it is still unclear which group was behind the attack. Later, a Palestinian terror organization calling itself the Martyr Muhammad al-Deif Brigades claimed the rocket barrage. The IDF reported that it later struck in separate parts in southern Syria.
