Tag Archive for Ehud Barak

| November 16, 2012
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As Rockets are fired at TLV & J’lem, Barak Calls Up More IDF Reserves

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expanded on Friday the call-up of reserve soldiers, a spokesman said, as Israel pushed ahead with a major offensive against terrorists in Gaza.

By Annie Lubin

 

 

“The defense minister has this evening ordered the mobilisation of new reserve forces,” Josh Hantman told AFP shortly after two rockets fired from Gaza hit an open field in Gush Etzion, near Jerusalem, and another landed in the sea by central Tel Aviv.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz in the field

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz in the field
IDF Spokespersons

The rockets that reached Tel Aviv were the first missiles to hit the city since the 1991 Gulf War. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 15, 2012
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UN Secretary General to visit Israel as part of cease-fire efforts

Ban to meet Netanyahu, Barak & Abbas in hopes of restoring ceasefire between Israel & Hamas.

France says President Hollande in talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu

Lieberman to counterparts: We won’t accept a ‘fragile truce’

By Itamar Eichner

 

Efforts to end Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza are underway: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit the region on Tuesday in order to advance a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Ban Ki-moon Photo: AFP

Ban Ki-moon – Photo: AFP

Ban is expected to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, but he will apparently not visit Gaza. The UN chief is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| November 13, 2012
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Barak: It’s not Over….the IDF Have Plans

 

Israel’s Defense Minister openly suggests that IDF plans action against Gaza, but can’t give any details.

By Gil Ronen

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted heavily Tuesday morning that the IDF plans an operation against Gaza terrorists, but he did not provide details.

Barak convened a situation assessment meeting at Gaza Division and heard the assessments of the Division Commander, the Head of Southern Command as well as police and Shin Bet representatives, regarding the tension in the South.

Following the session, Barak said publicly regarding the round of escalation, “The matter is not over yet. We are here with Division Commander Mickey [Edelstein], Command Head Tal [Rousso] and Deputy Chief of Staff Yair [Naveh]. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| November 5, 2012
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Olmert says on TV: I don’t trust Barak with security matters

Israel’s channel 2 investigative report, shows spat between former PM & defense minister as they struggled to cope with growing Iranian nuclear threat

Netanyahu allegedly ordered IDF on alert to strike Iran in 2010.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

In a rare public spat between what were once two of Israel’s highest-ranking politicians, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said he did not trust Defense Minister Ehud Barak with Israel’s most serious military matters, in a Channel 2 investigative report aired Monday.

Olmert & Barak – Photo: REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen

“I would very much prefer that this large a responsibility on these subjects (such as the Iranian nuclear program) will be in the hands of somebody else, not his,” Olmert said.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 1, 2012
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Defense Minister Reports: Israel won’t even outsource its security to most trusted allies

Defense Minister Barak says Jerusalem will not rely even on “closest, most trusted allies” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

 

Israel will not outsource its vital security interests to anyone, “not even to our closest and most trusted allies,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in London on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Defense Minister Ehud Barak – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Speaking at the British Israel Communications and Research Center, Barak addressed Iran’s uranium enrichment program: “All options are on the table to prevent Iran from crossing the point of no return. We expect all those who say it to mean it; we mean it.”

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| October 29, 2012
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U.S. Military Chief in Israel to discuss with Barak joint missile defense drill

This will be the largest-ever joint Israeli-U.S. drill, which simulates missiles raining down on Israel from Iran, Syria, Lebanon & Gaza.

By DPA

 

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey was in Israel on Monday to discuss a joint missile defense drill that began a week ago.

martin dempsey

Martin Dempsey – Photo by AP

An honor guard was to receive the US general at Israel’s defense headquarters in central Tel Aviv shortly after noon, an Israeli military statement said.

Israeli Chief of Staff Benny Gantz was scheduled to host the welcoming ceremony.

Dempsey met Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv late Sunday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 6, 2012
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What may be the end of a beautiful friendship

It began when Netanyahu wanted a unity gov’t and Livni refused, but Barak wanted to remain defense minister. Then for several years, they were inseparable, right until Barak realized that the elections were coming.

 

By Mati Tuchfeld

 

It is amazing how many people have been waiting for this moment. For four years they have been looking on, green with envy, at this unlikely, nearly mythical relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. They have been waiting with baited breath for this relationship to end badly. In the eyes of senior cabinet ministers, especially ones from Likud, the close ties between Netanyahu and Barak have brought almost nothing but calamity.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| August 25, 2012
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Egyptian Defense Minister: We’re Committed to Peace Treaty with Israel

Egyptian Defense Minister Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke to Israeli counterpart Barak on telephone saying Cairo is committed to the peace treaty.

By Gil Ronen

 

Egyptian Defense Minister Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak, on the phone Wednesday, and stressed that Cairo is committed to the peace treaty with Israel, according to an Arabic newspaper.

The paper, Al Hayat, which is published in London, cites senior Egyptian sources as saying that there are understandings between Israel and Egypt regarding the means of dealing with the security problems in Sinai.

Al-Sisi reportedly spoke to Barak as he was preparing to meet President Mohammed Morsi. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 13, 2012
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New Book: Barak was opposed to a strike on the Syrian reactor

‘Inside Israel’s Secret Wars,’ tells that Ashkenazi, Dagan and Olmert claimed political considerations were behind defense minister’s opposition to a strike on Syria’s nuclear site at Dir a-Zur

Itamar Eichner

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak is pushing for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but five years ago he was staunchly opposed to the successful attack on Syria’s reactor, a new book reveals.

According to foreign reports, the Israeli Air Force bombed the reactor in Syria‘s Dir a-Zur region on September 6, 2007 under a veil of secrecy. Only some six months later US government officials announced that the destroyed target was a nuclear plant that was built with North Korea’s assistance. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| August 10, 2012
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Netanyahu & Barak advocate an attack this coming fall

Israeli daily reports PM & defense minister in favor of striking Tehran’s nuclear facilities before US elections despite IDF’s objections

By Ynet

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak advocate an attack of Iran‘s nuclear facilities in the upcoming fall, Yedioth Ahronoth’s senior commentators Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer reported Friday.

נתניהו וברק. לא סומכים על אובמה (צילום: אליעד לוי)

Netanyahu, Barak. Attack in the fall? – Photo: Eliad Levy

According to Barnea and Shiffer, “Not a single state official or military official or even the president – supports an Israeli attack in Iran.”

The report stated that Netanyahu and Barak believe that setting back Iran’s nuclear project is worth the risk – while defense officials believe the opposite to be true. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| August 1, 2012
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Prime Minister & Defense Minister tell Panetta: Israel has the right to defend itself

Panetta arrives in Israel for quick visit to discuss the Israeli-American disagreements over whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

By Amos Hare

 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta arrived in Israel last night for a brief visit that will focus on the American-Israeli dispute over whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak plan to stress that Israel reserves the right to defend itself, and to make its own decision on whether to attack.

Another major topic of discussion will be efforts to prevent Syria’s chemical weapons from reaching Lebanon.

Iran's heavy water nuclear facilities near the central city of Arak

Iran’s heavy water nuclear facilities near the central city of Arak – Photo by AP /ISNA,Hamid Foroutan

A senior government official told Haaretz that even if Jerusalem attacks Iran over Washington’s objections, he doesn’t think the United States will turn its back on Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| June 15, 2012
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Settlement Committee won’t cut Barak’s authority

Despite expected establishment of committee on settlement affairs, Defense Ministry sources say Ehud Barak’s jurisdiction over settlement matters will not diminish

By Attila Somfalvi

 

The Government is expected to approve the establishment of a Ministerial Committee for Settlement Affairs led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during its Sunday session. However, sources in the Defense Ministry have said that the PM’s move, which is meant to placate right-wing ministers and settlers, will not rescind Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s authority over settlement matters.

The committee, which was established last week as the settlement regulation bill failed to pass its Knesset vote, will be authorized to present government policy pertaining to unregulated construction on private and State land, including fundamental issues that will reach the courts. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| March 12, 2012
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This round will likely go to Israel

If there are fewer launches Monday, Israel will likely reduce its attacks, and this round of hostilities will wind down by midweek.

 

Fewer rockets were fired at Israel on Sunday, but the fact that Katyushas did nonetheless fall in Be’er Sheva spurred tough talk from Israel, which threatened to continue attacking the Gaza Strip.

Still, if there are fewer launches Monday, Israel will likely reduce its attacks, and this round of hostilities will wind down by midweek, much as last year’s periodic flare-ups did.

This optimistic assessment comes with two strong caveats: One, this is all true so long as there are no Israeli deaths; and two, the Islamic Jihad’s rising frustration at its inability to achieve much may lead it to take the extreme – almost suicidal – step of firing rockets at the Tel Aviv area.

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