An Australian-Israeli citizen was found hanged in an Israeli prison cell in late 2010 after being secretly held for several months and was suspected of links to Israel’s Mossad espionage agency, the Australian Government and the ABC said.

The ABC report sought to lift the veil of secrecy from a case that Israel has long kept under wraps.

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I was asked to Brussels to address the matter of what the European Union might do to tackle anti-Semitism. The answer is easy: “Stop funding anti-Semites.”

And so it was that I found myself once again in a meeting in the twilight world of Brussels — an ugly city filled with ugly buildings, ugly overpriced food and overpaid officials. The objective of any visit must always be a hit-an-run: to get in and get out as swiftly as possible, The only reason to go is to try and inject some sense into a city so starved of it. When, therefore, asked to address the matter of what the European Union might do to tackle anti-Semitism, the answer is easy: “Stop funding anti-Semites.” What is hard is that this is Brussels, where words are meaningless and nothing makes any sense. Here is just one example:

The Palestinian Ma’an News Agency is one of the most supremely anti-Semitic organs in the Middle East. Which I hope readers realize is putting it in the premier league of anti-Semitic slander.

Here is an excerpt from a recent article on the Ma’an website by one Saswan Najib Abd Al-Halim:

Jews think that their fortresses will protect them from death, but any breach of these fortresses or protective walls instills panic and fear in their hearts, and they are seized by fear and trembling. If a missile falls beyond their protective walls or if even a bullet passes over them, you can see how their hearts fill with horror — and this is because Allah has stricken fear in their hearts and decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day…

Historically, it is known that the lives of Jews have always been war and fighting. The only reason for this is that they have been outcasts in every corner of the earth, and not one nation in the world respects them, for they cause strife, and scheme everywhere they settle. We know that they have been defeated in every war they have fought throughout history, and they have been dispersed in every direction, but Allah’s curse upon them and his fury at them cause them to continue with their transgression and tyranny.

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When Yael Matzpon heard the door open at 3:30 AM,  she thought it was her husband returning from his job in the IDF. But when the door flung open and the light flicked on, she found herself face to face with a knife-wielding Palestinian terrorist from Gaza. Lying next to her in bed were her four and half year-old daughter and two year-old son.  In a room close by, her  eight and nine year-old daughters lay sleeping.

“‘What do you want, I asked him.  Money, food?’

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Ed Koch, the brash former three-term mayor of New York City who made no secret of his love for Israel and his Jewish faith, has died. He was 88.

Koch passed away at 2 a.m., spokesman George Arzt said. The funeral will be held Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.

Koch was never shy about discussing his Jewish faith, making no secret of his close connection to the religion and culture. He was beloved by New York’s Jewish community for his outspokenness on the matter and for his willingness to be a public advocate for Jewish causes.

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Jews who can do so, leave Europe. Those who do not have the means to leave know they must be extremely careful: it is dangerous again to be a Jew in Europe. It is even more dangerous to be a Jew who supports Israel.

In 2012, the number of anti-Semitic crimes in France sharply increased. The six-month period that followed the March killings in a Jewish school in Toulouse were particularly harsh. The killer , Mohammed Merah, became a hero in many suburbs, his name on many graffiti. For some people, apparently, shooting children in the head just because they are Jewish is inspiring.

Although acts such as as the killing in Toulouse had no equivalent elsewhere, France is not an exception: statistics show that insults, assaults, and cries of hatred against Jews multiply throughout Europe…

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The infamous historian and Holocaust denier David Irving has a new sideline as a guide at Nazi extermination sites. Will Storr signed up for a tour.

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The state of Israel has a basic, inescapable geopolitical dilemma: Its national security requirements outstrip its military capabilities, making it dependent on an outside power. Not only must that power have significant military capabilities but it also must have enough common ground with Israel to align its foreign policy toward the Arab world with that of Israel’s. These are rather heavy requirements for such a small nation.

Security, in the Israeli sense, is thus often characterized in terms of survival. And for Israel to survive, it needs just the right blend of geopolitical circumstance, complex diplomatic arrangements and military preparedness to respond to potential threats nearby.

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Imagine what it would be like if 15 per cent of New Zealand were living every day under direct fire.

Imagine if every person in greater Wellington or Christchurch lived in fear of an imminent rocket attack. Imagine all the schools closed in a 40km radius of either city. Imagine not waking up to the sounds of nature but sirens calling everyone into bomb shelters and stairways.

Sadly, this isn’t a situation my countrymen need to imagine. Once again it has become a terrifying fact of life for the one million souls who inhabit southern Israel.

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With Yom Kippur recently celebrated, Bruce Thompson gave an interesting presentation on the Yom Kippur War, fought in October 1973.   The Yom Kippur war was a seminal conflict for Israel.  But then which isn’t?  Egypt and Syria had been looking for a face saver following their decisive defeat in 1967.  Their arms build up in the aftermath of that war was dismissed by Israel’s intelligence agencies based on the assumption that they would not want to repeat their 1967 humiliation.

Sadat fuelled this complacency by repeatedly threatening military action in the months leading up to the invasion without following through.  Despite reports of unusually high concentrations of military troops near the border and even a warning from a high-ranking spy, Israel chose to do nothing.  Later the world learnt that this decision was in part based on a lack of US Support for a pre-emptive strike.  The US wanted a political advantage, the moral high ground by allowing the Arabs to attack first.  How influential this actually was, continues to be debated.

The Egyptians intended a limited war with the goal of winning control of both banks of the Suez Canal under the protective umbrella of a Anti-Aircraft Missile network built on the Western Bank of the Canal.  Without air superiority, their plan originally intended to avoid pressing deeper into Israeli territory.  The Syrians intended to seize back the Golan Heights.

Egypt and Syria invaded on October 6.  Military surprise was achieved and the Arabs fulfilled their objectives to their schedule.  Israel suffered heavy losses as they encountered new technologies introduced since the 1967 war:  sophisticated SAM batteries and portable anti-tank AT-3 Sagger wire-guided anti-tank missiles.  Egypt departed from its original plan and sent its troops beyond its SAM umbrella which ultimately led to its defeat.  The Syrians were not able to make their objectives before the Israeli army was fully mobilized.  Eventually the tide turned and Israel began to take Syrian territory.  The same was being mirrored on the Southern front.  Israeli forces were within 60km of Cairo.  With oil prices spiking, there was considerable international pressure to negotiate a cease fire. A cease fire eventually came into force on October 25.

The War resulted in the fall of the Meir government, the early retirement, and/or resignations from Israeli senior officers, an acknowledgement from Egypt that they could not defeat Israel.  The war also challenged many American assumptions; the United States initiated new efforts at mediation and peacemaking. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process. The Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country.  The Egypt-Israel peace pact signed by Sadat and Begin continues to be honoured today.  The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided rout of the Egyptian–Syrian–Jordanian alliance in the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by early successes in the conflict. In Israel, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, the war effectively ended its sense of invincibility and complacency.  Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.  New tactics were also developed to counter new SAM missile and portable anti-tank missile technologies.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Barry Thompson is Vice-President of NZFOI and has been a member for over 20 years.  A staunch supporter of Israel, he is also has a keen interest in Military History.