“I have never encountered anyone who matched his command of the English language. Sentences poured forth in mellifluous constructions complicated enough to test the listener’s intelligence and simultaneously leave him transfixed by the speaker's virtuosity.” The remark was made by Henry Kissinger. No, not complimenting Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, whose English leaves a lot to be desired, but to the late Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. A distinguished graduate of Cambridge University, Abba Eban was fluent in ten languages. Nonetheless, Eli Cohen’s lack of fluency in English, was made up for by the fervour with which he accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of trying to absolve Hamas from blame for the horrific’ October 7 attack. “I will not meet with the UN secretary-general. After October 7, there is no room for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased from the world!” Cohen stated. Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called on Antonio Guterres to resign. “Guterres who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN,” Erdan said. “There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel.” he added. Israel is furious that Guterres had suggested the attacks by Hamas could not be seen in a vacuum but followed decades of occupation. Guterres had also accused Israel of clear violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, and insisted that a humanitarian ceasefire was vital, a position that the US was close to accepting even if it would not use the term ceasefire, but instead a “humanitarian pause”.
Instead of launching a full-scale ground assault on Gaza, which
could endanger hostages, civilians, and further inflame tensions in the region,
US military advisers are urging the IDF to use a combination of precision airstrikes and targeted special
operations raids.
A few days ago, I had no idea when the IDF would launch a ground assault. At that time, I wrote “If and when the IDF launches a full-scale ground assault on Gaza it will likely be spearheaded by a brigade or more of main battle tanks (MBTs).” Some military affairs experts question the wisdom of this tactic. Still, other experts claim that “reports of the demise of the main battle tank (MBT) have been greatly exaggerated.” There was a time when tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) were vulnerable to a variety of light-weight hand-held weapons – rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and Kornet anti-tank guided missiles (AGTMs).
To counter this threat Rafael Advanced Defence Systems (Israel) devised the ‘Trophy,’ a military armoured vehicle active protection system. Trophy protects against a wide range of anti-tank threats, while also maximising the vehicle's ability to identify enemy location to crews and combat formations, thereby providing greater survivability and manoeuvrability in all combat theatres. The system has intercepted a variety of threats, including the 9M133 Kornet Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), Rocket propelled grenade (RPG-29,) etc. the U.S Army has reported similar success in tests. “I tried to kill the Abrams tank with ATGM 48 times and failed, despite the fact that some of them were supersonic,” said US Army Col. Glenn Dean.
According to Forbes Business Magazine, Hamas forces have a few innovative ideas for defeating the Trophy. Hamas assumes that
firing a rocket-propelled grenade from 50 yards or closer should thwart the
Trophy, presumably by giving it too little time to react. Alternatively,
an SPG-9 recoilless gun should defeat a Trophy, simply by virtue of
its projectile’s high speed. Or Hamas troopers firing several RPG rounds in
quick succession and overwhelming the device. As far as I know, Hamas hasn’t employed these tactics.
In the Summer of 2018,
Rafael conducted an extensive series of qualification tests for Trophy MV/VPS
in Israel, with the presence of over 130 decision makers and technical experts
from over 15 countries. The tests were conducted in extreme scenarios, using
both rockets and ATGMs. The reported success rate was over 95%.
In February 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defence and the German Federal Ministry of Defence signed a
government-to-government agreement to supply the Trophy system to the German
military, for its fleet of Leopard 2 tanks. In addition, the Trophy system is about to undergo integration
into the British Army's Challenger 3 main
battle tank.
Another Israeli defence industry is marketing a similar product. The ‘Iron Fist,’ a hard-kill active protection system (APS) designed
by Israel Military Industries (IMI), with a modular design allowing
adaptation to a range of platforms ranging from light utility vehicles to
heavy armoured fighting vehicles. The U.S. Army has tested and installed the system on a brigade of M2
Bradley tanks.
For the purpose of ‘offsetting’ the above-mentioned military hardware and software items I want to conclude with two human-interest stories. There is a preamble to the first narrative dating back to when I ‘made aliya’ in 1961.
My first home was at kibbutz Nirim
where I lived for four years. Nitza Hefetz was one of the ‘pioneers’ who
founded the kibbutz. I recall how she casually mentioned that she was born in
Ein Harod. At that time, although I had heard of Ein Harod, I didn’t know that I
would eventually settle there.
End of the preamble, here is the first human interest
story: -
Many local news outlets told how a brave quick-thinking Filipino caregiver, Camille Jesalva saved her own life and the life of 95-year-old Nitza Hefetz, the woman she was taking care of by ‘buying off’ a Hamas terrorist. On October 7, the day Hamas terrorists ferociously attacked many of the Gaza periphery communities, Camille ‘bribed’ a Hamas terrorist who had broken into Nitza’s home by offering him the savings she had prepared for a planned trip to the Philippines two days later. “I opened my wallet and told him to take the $370 I had and begged him not to harm us.” Jesalva locked herself and Nitza in the safe-room, where they spent several hours until help arrived. Later she cancelled her flight to the Philippines in order to remain with Nitza. But now that Nitza’s family has moved her to an assisted living facility in Jerusalem, Camille hopes to fly home next month.
There is an unconfirmed corollary to
Camille Jesalva's story. In the scuffle with the terrorist
when he forced his way into Nitza’s home, Camille’s glasses were broken. Later,
when she was interviewed on TV channel 13 Camille asked for help in replacing
her glasses. I heard that within a few hours Israelis had called the TV channel
offering to pay for her glasses and to cover the cost of her trip home.
The
other human-interest story involves my family in New Zealand. It’s less
dramatic, but nevertheless important.
My daughter Daphna’s husband Mark Muller is
an active trade union worker. In that capacity he attended the New Zealand
Council of Trade Unions biannual conference last week. On the second day of the
conference a motion was put against Israel’s actions in Gaza calling for a
ceasefire. The people seated at the conference’s executive table weren’t expecting
a discussion on the motion. So, there was considerable surprise when Mark stood
up and very forcefully spoke against it. He called out the fact that there was no mention
of the atrocities committed by Hamas or the hostages Hamas had taken. The
resolution was revised and included something about October 7 and the hostages,
but not enough. So, Mark voted against the motion and asked that his vote
against it be recorded in the minutes.
While it’s quiet here at Ein Harod I am, concerned
for the safety of family and friends in
and near the Gaza Strip.
Take Care.
Beni,
29th
of October, 2023.
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