What Really Protects Israel From Rockets

There are various possibilities of what is protecting Israel from harm, despite the onslaught of rockets being shot out of Gaza by Hamas. Obviously we know Hashem protects us, and we do our physical hishtadlus to effect that protection. The physical hishtadlus consists of having an army and mobilizing it as necessary, defense systems similar to Iron Dome, and others. But sometimes one wonders what, of all the various actions we take, has more of a direct affect on matters.

Let's go through the options (in no particular order):

1. Iron Dome. Iron Dome has done a tremendous job knocking rockets out of the air. It is not perfect, it has missed some, but it has done a tremendous job with a very high percentage of success. To that end, we'd have to include Amir Peretz (as Ynet has started a campaign to thank him, probably reviving a possible political comeback) for being the man behind the original creation and promoting it into reality. As well, RAFAEL, the defense contractor who actually created it. Of course add to the list the army, the politicians and the people of the USA who largely fund it.

2. Prayer. Prayer is, perhaps, a spiritual version of the Iron Dome. We have so many people around the country davening, whether personally saying tehillim, or shuls saying tehillim, or special prayer sessions like the mass prayer yesterday at the Kotel.

3. Kabbalistic activity. Perhaps this should be categorized as part of prayer, but it is not prayer that the average person bombards the heavens with. It is a unique form of prayer and activity, thus qualifying for its own category. A group of Kabbalists went to Meron to say special prayers, then on to Kever Rachel, Hebron and the conclusion of the series of special prayers for a time of war that were said in Beer Sheva.

According to Ladaat, the special tefillot that were said in Beer Sheva were said by Rav Kaduri at the time of the Gulf War, and prior to that they had been said by mekubalim as the Germans were preparing to invade the Holy Land.

4. Torah learning. Torah learning can be such a strong protective force that Rav Chaim Kanievsky said the safest place to be is in Bnei Braq due to the high amount of Torah learning done there. Rav Kanievsky said that the Chazon Ish had promised that Bnei Braq would not have explosions, and the Chazon Ish is great enough that we can rely on him and his promise today as well. (source: Kikar)

While Rav Kanievsky recently said that residents (yeshiva students) from the south should go to Bnei Braq for safety, perhaps Bnei Braq should prepare to receive residents from the south until as north as Tel Aviv and Gush Dan and provide them with safe harbor..

Rav Shteinman is also being flooded with questions from people concerned and looking for answers as to what they should do. According to Bechadrei, Rav Shteinman, though considering each question anew is generally telling people that learning Torah is the best form of protection. Rav Shteinman said that if there should be a siren during davening, during shmoneh esrei, or during learning, they should run for cover. On the issue of Bnei Braq, it doesn't seem, to me, that Rav Shteinman is quite as definitive as Rav Kanievsky is. Rav Shteinman said there is no chazaka that rockets will not fall there, as there is no chazaka on the future. Chazaka only defines the past. Bnei Braq has a chazaka that rockets have not fallen there, but there is no such chazaka that rockets will not fall there in the future.

5. Tzaddikim. A few months ago Rav Chaim Pinto, the rav of Kiryat Malachi, according to Mynet, said that Kiryat Malachi is protected by the special graves of tzadikkim that are buried there.

Rav Pinto has been saying that special, very powerful, tzadikkim are buried in Kiryat Malachi. Some of them (or maybe all of them) are buried in his office (below his office? I am not sure what exactly his claim is, but that is what he said). These tzadikkim provide protection to the city to the point that there is no need to even take cover, if one is in the middle of davening, when the sirens blare announcing an incoming rocket. In other places like Ashdod, one should interrupt his tefilla and take cover, even though we have the protection of Iron Dome (making a direct hit unlikely), but in Kiryat Malachi one should not interrupt his prayers.

Rav Pinto has not revealed the identity of of the tzadikkim buried there, but he hinted that Rav Chaim Vital is buried there, among others including the grave of Rav Chaim Pinto (presumably his own ancestor).

Rav Chaim Vital was buried in Syria, though rumors have persisted for a long time that Rav Pinto secretly moved Rav Chaim Vital's grave to Kiryat Malachi many years ago. The same rumor also claims other graves of ancient tzadikkim were moved as well. The only other name I have ever heard in reference to this rumor was that of Rebbe Nachman of Breslav.

At the time Rav Pinto pointed to the fact that despite a series of escalations no rocket had falled in kiryat Malachi to indicate that he was correct that the tzadikkim buried there provide protection. If he was correct at the time, one must wonder what changed, considering the recent rockets that fell in Kiryat Malachi, including one that killed three people (and they were not mechalelei shabbos, as is explained in Bnei Braq when explaining how a rocket did fall in Bnei Braq despite the promises that no rockets fall there).

So, I don't know which of the above do a better or worse job. Maybe it is a combination of all five, and only together does the protection work most effectively.

Israel kills Hamas commander, bombs Gaza targets

(Reuters) - Israel killed the military commander of the Islamist group Hamas in a missile strike on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and launched air raids across the enclave, pushing the two sides to the brink of a new war.

The attacks marked the biggest escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since a 2008-2009 conflict and came despite signs on Tuesday that neighboring Egypt had managed to broker a truce in the enclave after a five day surge of violence.

Hamas said Ahmed Al-Jaabari, who ran the organization's armed wing, Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam, died along with an unnamed associate when their car was blown apart by an Israeli missile. Palestinians said nine people were killed, including a seven-year-old girl.

Video from Gaza showed the charred and mangled wreckage of a car belching flames, as emergency crews picked up what appeared to be body parts.

Israel confirmed it had carried out the attack on Jaabari and warned that more strikes would follow. Reuters witnesses reported numerous explosions around Gaza, with Hamas security compounds and police stations among the targets.

"This is an operation against terror targets of different organizations in Gaza," military spokesman Avital Leibovitch told reporters, adding that Jaabari had "a lot of blood on his hands".

Immediate calls for revenge were broadcast over Hamas radio.

"The occupation has opened the doors of hell," Hamas's armed wing said. Smaller groups also vowed to strike back.

"Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences," Islamic Jihad said.

The escalation in Gaza came in a week when Israel pounded Syrian artillery positions it said had fired into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights amid a civil war in Syria that has brought renewed instability to neighboring Lebanon.

Hamas has been supported by both Syria and Iran, which Israel regards as a rising threat to its own existence due to its nuclear program.

Israel's intelligence agency Shin Bet said Jaabari was responsible for Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, when the militant Islamist group ousted fighters of the Fatah movement of its great rival, the Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

It said Jaabari instigated the attack that led to the capture of Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit in a kidnap raid from Gaza in 2006. Jaabari was also the man who handed Shalit over to Israel in a prisoner exchange five years after his capture.

Israel holds a general election on January 22 and conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure to respond firmly against Hamas, with residents of southern Israel complaining bitterly about repeated missile strikes

Hamas has been emboldened by the rise to power in neighboring Egypt of its spiritual mentors in the Muslim Brotherhood whom it views as a "safety net".

Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died in the 2008-2009 conflict. There was a lull in hostilities after that, but the violence has flared again in recent months and Israel has repeatedly warned of dire consequences unless Hamas and its fellow militants stopped rocket attacks.

In the latest confrontation, which appeared to have ended on Tuesday, more than 115 missiles were fired into southern Israel from Gaza and Israeli planes launched numerous strikes. Seven Palestinians, three of them gunmen, were killed. Eight Israeli civilians were hurt by rocket fire and four soldiers wounded by an anti-tank missile.

Helped by Iran and the flourishing contraband trade through tunnels from Egypt, Gaza militias have smuggled in better weapons since the war of 2008-09, including longer-range Grad rockets and anti-tank missiles of the type they fired last week at an IDF patrol vehicle.

But Gaza's estimated 35,000 Palestinian fighters are still no match for Israel's F-16 fighter-bombers, Apache helicopter gunships, Merkava tanks and other modern weapons systems in the hands of a conscript force of 175,000, with 450,000 in reserve.

Israel's shekel fell nearly one percent to a two-month low against the dollar on Wednesday after news of the Israeli airstrikes broke.

Terror Squad Infiltrating Israel from Egypt Targeted by IAF

The terrorists who smashed into Israel at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday night managed to drive about a mile into Israel, and were traveling at 70 kilometers an hour along the road toward Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, before the Israeli Air Force was able to get a clear shot and blow up their armored vehicle without risk to civilian traffic on the road or nearby.

That was one of the findings of the IDF’s initial investigation into what officials said Monday was a very carefully planned and complex terror attack.

JPost has lots more details:

Back to the armored vehicle. After driving for about 100 meters on the highway, it encountered another force from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion which again opened fire but failed to stop the vehicle’s advance. Driving at speeds of around 70 kph, the IDF feared that the vehicle was on its way to a nearby Israeli town and decided to send three tanks onto the highway, one from the north, one from behind and one from the west. At the same time and after the vehicle had crossed some 2 km, an Israeli aircraft was diverted to the scene and fired off a missile, finally causing the necessary damage to stop the vehicle’s advance. The bombing, approved by Russo, was not a simple decision and was unprecedented due to the fact that it took place inside Israeli territory.

After the vehicle stopped, two of the terrorists exited the vehicle and headed for cover in nearby fields, opening fire at a farming vehicle. In the meantime, the tank from behind fired two shells from a short distance, destroying the vehicle and killing at least five other terrorists still inside. Later, after a short gunfight, IDF soldiers killed the two terrorists outside.

Almost all of the terrorists were found to be wearing explosive bomb belts which has led the IDF to believe that the terrorists’ target was to either infiltrate an IDF base or a nearby town and to kill as many people as possible. The identities of the attackers are still unknown although a majority of them are believed to be Bedouin from the Sinai Peninsula.

The Fear - The Soldiers of Israel

Our Heroes: IDF Soldiers in Action

IDF Navy Brings the Action to the Sea

Naval commandos simulate neutralization of enemy threats at sea In largest exercise in past decade, naval forces train for a number of routine and operational scenarios, in conjunction with the Air Force

Last week, Israel Navy commando forces carried out their largest drill in the past decade. Soldiers of the elite Shayetet 13 and the 916 Detachment, together with the Snapir unit and the Israel Air Force, practiced operational scenarios that could arise at any moment.

During the exercise, which the senior leadership of the Detachment attended, soldiers simulated a number of scenarios: neutralization of an enemy force at sea, ship malfunctions, evacuation of an injured soldier by helicopter - and all of this carried out within narrow time limits. The exercise was overseen by base commander Col. Dror Friedman, who came to evaluate the soldiers' preparedness for such incidents.

As part of the exercise, a helicopter simulated the evacuation of a person injured at sea. The soldier quickly and efficiently transported this casualty. "The crew acted rapidly and maintained a high level of professionalism," Lt. Amir, a ship commander, said of his soldiers' performance in the drill.

Afterwards, the ships received envelopes with a number of scenarios simulating ship malfunctions. One such scenario was a fire in the engine room, which required the crew to abandon ship and escape onto lifeboats. The soldiers' performance in the exercise reflected close cooperation, as well as competition between ships.

Later, the ships were deployed along the length of Israel’s Mediterranean coast. All of the sailors went on deck to witness a powerful site that had not been seen in a decade - visual proof of the size and strength of Israel’s naval strength. Lt. Amir stood with his soldiers on his ship’s deck and looked out on the naval forces. “We are here to protect the security of the State of Israel,” he remarked. “The power that the navy has is amazing. To see all of the ships together along Israel’s coasts gives us great pride and assures us that Israel’s civilians can sleep well at night.”

Returning to the base afterwards, the forces hugged Israel’s coast, so as to show the Israeli population those forces that protect its shores. “I was fortunate to see the strength of the 916 Detachment, their professionalism, speed, and determination,” Col. Friedman said at the conclusion of the exercise.

Lt. Amir agreed, saying, “We met all of the goals that we set for ourselves, the maneuvers were carried out at a good pace and we managed a large number of ships with great effectiveness.”

Targeting of a Popular Resistance Committee Rocket Launching Site at El-Atatra

Pinpoint Targeting of a Hamas Weapon Manufacturing Facilit

Rocket Launch Squad Targeted

Judea Brigade Holds Emergency Response Exercise to IED Terror Attack

IDF Psychological Warfare in Arabic - Maj. Avichay Adraee Addresses Escalation in the South and Hamas Terror Tactics

Those fiendish Jews and their life-saving innovations By DAVID HOROVITZ: Iron Dome? We didn’t think it would work. They can shoot our rockets out of the sky? Impossible. But heaven help us, they’ve done it.

Those fiendish Jews. They are making it so hard for us to kill them.

They pulled every last father, mother and child out of the Gaza Strip, where we could get at them easily. They pulled their army out too.

Every last tank, every last soldier. The only one we’ve got here now is Gilad Schalit.

Some of them thought that this might sate our ambitions. Idiots. They thought the “international community” would give us hell if we carried on trying to kill them. Fools. Of course we weren’t going to stop, and of course no one was going to stop us. We won’t stop till we’ve terrorized them all the way out of Palestine. And it’s not like we’re making any secret of that; it’s all there in our charter.

But, heaven help us, they don’t shift easily. And they do value life.

Even our people’s.

We make sure our fighters are surrounded by women and children before we open fire. We make sure our fighters are indistinguishable from civilians; no uniforms for us. And still those Jews insist on holding their return fire unless they can be reasonably sure they’ll only kill our men. Unbelievable: We’re doing everything we can to get our ordinary people killed, and they’re doing everything they can not to kill them. What kind of upside-down world is this? 

How do they even know who our fighters are? Think of the resources they’re expending making sure they don’t kill the wrong people! Thank goodness the rest of the world is too dumb or too blinkered to internalize what’s going on; thank goodness they still haven’t figured out that we’re deliberately putting our people in harm’s way and those Jews are doing their best not to harm them.

And as for their lives? Like I said, it’s just getting harder and harder to kill them. They have early-warning systems and alarms and bomb shelters and safe rooms and protective concrete cubes and fantastic, heroic medical services. Just imagine, if we adopted those kinds of measures, we’d have none of our people killed, and then where would we be? 

Come to think of it, we wouldn’t need to adopt any of those measures if we just stopped shooting at them. It’s not as though they’d shoot first. But if we stopped firing, how could we complain to the world about those vicious Zionist enemies? How could we keep the UN and the rest of those suckers on our side? How could we keep the Jew-hatred at fever pitch among our people? How could we serve our noble, bloody cause? 

But, damn them and their clever innovations, they haven’t stopped with the alarms and the shelters. Now they’ve come up with this “Iron Dome” gadget.

In a million years, we didn’t think it would work. They’re going to fire rockets at our rockets and shoot them out of the sky? 

Yeah, right. This isn’t Xbox or PlayStation. Last time I looked, it was a pretty big sky out there.

But bless my soul, they’ve managed it. Ten of our rockets blasted out of the air in the past two days alone. Nauseating. We were sure we’d have some meaty kills out of those salvoes.

I mean, it’s not even supposed to be working properly yet; it’s still in the experimental stage; the Israeli media were laughing at its developers; they were certain it was useless.


Sometimes, I swear, I start to wonder if God’s on their side. Crazy, huh? I don’t know what’s getting into me. But look at the evidence: This weekend we had a Grad land near a kibbutz administration building. We got one right next to a school in Ofakim. Not a single fatality. A few minutes earlier on Thursday, we might have had a bus full of schoolkids near Kibbutz Sa’ad. But no, they got off just before we hit that bright yellow, sitting- duck target, and all we got was one teenager and the driver.

What? What’s that you say? Put the weapons away? Internalize the sanctity of human life? 

That’s ridiculous talk. Next you’ll be telling me to make peace with them. To acknowledge that they have the right to live here. To build a state alongside theirs. To give our people a better future. To turn our attention away from war and violence and death and killing, toward something productive.

Never, I tell you. Never.

Israel Air Force Identifies Terrorist Squad Firing from Cemetery in Sajaiya

This drone footage captures a terrorist squad spotted immediately after the firing of rockets at the Israeli home front, from within a cemetery.
After the firing of four mortar shells at Nahal Oz from within the cemetery in Sajaiya, Israel Air Force drones equipped with cameras are diverted to the scene.
The IDF regrets that the Hamas terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a "human shield". The IDF will continue to operate with strength and determination against any terrorist organization using terror against the State of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers stand next to the Iron Dome, a new anti-rocket system, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, Sunday, March 27, 2011. Weeks of stepped-up rocket and mortar attacks have drawn fears of renewed war and led to new calls in Israel for the military to deploy the $200 million Iron Dome anti-rocket system. The Israeli military said the system began operating on Sunday near Beersheba, southern Israel's largest city. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Map describing how long you have to reach shelter in the event of a rocket attack anywhere in Israel

How the Iron Dome Works

ISRAEL MATZAV: IAF gets equipment for 'killing machines'

The IAF has taken delivery on 1,000 small diameter bombs (SDB's) from the United States. The bombs, which weigh about 250 pounds each, and have about 50 pounds of explosives, are as powerful as a bomb containing 900 kilograms (nearly a ton) of explosives.
Israel is the first country outside of the United States to receive the weapon.

The IAF has named the new bomb “Sharp Hail.” The total cost of the deal was $77 million.

The GPS-guided SDB is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world. It has the same penetration capabilities as a normal 900-kg. bomb, although it has only 22.7 kg. of explosives. At just 1.75 meters long, its small size increases the number of bombs an aircraft can carry and the number of targets it can attack in a sortie.

Tests conducted in the US have proven that the bomb can penetrate at least 90 cm. of steel-reinforced concrete.

The GBU-39 can be used in adverse weather and has a standoff range of more than 110 km. due to its pop-out wings.

This enables aircraft to attack more targets per sortie, since each weapon’s station can carry four bombs.

The first planes to have the GBU-39 are the IAF’s F- 15Is – which can carry around 20 of the bombs on its wings and fuselage, turning the aircraft into what defense officials termed a “killing machine.”
Hmmm.

YNET: IDF, Shin Bet confirm killing of Gaza terrorist Hamas says Army of Islam commander killed in airstrike near police headquarters, but eyewitnesses say explosion occurred inside vehicle

IDF strike: The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed on Wednesday that they were responsible for the explosion that killed Army of Islam commander Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam.

Al-Namnam's car exploded near a Hamas police station in Gaza City. The al-Arabiya network reported that one person was killed in the blast and another three were injured.

Al-Namnam was a senior field commander in the Army of Islam, one of the organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Strip. He was involved in attacks against Israel targets and recently planned to carry out more attacks against Israeli and American targets through the Sinai Peninsula.

According to a source in one of the Gaza organizations, the man was killed in a new Hyundai car which recently arrived in the Strip from Israel as part of the easing of the blockade.

Israel has allowed dozens of vehicles to enter Gaza.

The source told Ynet that the Hamas interior ministry had recently called on Palestinian buying the new cars to have them checked thoroughly, "for fear that Israel has planted listening devices or even booby-trapped them."

Palestinian sources said the explosion rocked the Ansar area, where many of the security headquarters are located, sending up a plume of thick black smoke. Emergency teams and Hamas security forces rushed to the scene.

Eyewitnesses said the car was travelling on the road parallel to the police headquarters when the explosion occurred. Despite the claims of an airstrike, other residents said the explosion occurred inside the vehicle.

Adham Abu Selmia, a spokesman for the Strip's medical services, told Hamas journal al-Risala that the man killed in the incident was Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam, 27, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camo.

The man was said to be a senior commander in the extreme Army of Islam organization, whose members have clashed with Hamas forces. He was previously involved in terror attacks on Israeli targets, and recently conspired with Hamas members to carry out terror attacks through Sinai, against American and Israeli targets.