IDF’s Druze Battalion Readies for Fighting Hezbollah

Published on: July 4, 2013

The battalion developed techniques for fighting Hezbollah, based on years of experience operating in Israel’s northern border region; the new methods were tested in a battalion-wide exercise last week.
The IDF’s Herev Battalion, made up of members of Israel’s Druze community, has gained many years of experience performing unique missions near the Israel-Lebanon border. In the 2006 Second Lebanon War, for instance, Herev was the first force to cross the border and the last to return – exhausted from completing a range of complex missions that earned the unit a citation.
The Herev Battalion, referred to as the IDF’s “spearhead on the Lebanon border”, used its wealth of operational experience in the region to develop new combat techniques for fighting against Hezbollah. These new techniques were tested last week for the first time in an intensive battalion-wide exercise.

“Combat in Lebanon demands the use of heavy armor and the slow advancement of troops,” explained the commander of the Herev Battalion. He went on to explain that fighting Hezbollah requires a specific method of combat, which includes the intensive use of firepower.

“In order to fight against the enemy in Lebanon in the most correct manner, we took the techniques that exist today in the IDF for fighting in open areas, and we made the necessary adjustments. With the help of the battalion’s experience, and combined with an understanding of what to expect next time, we managed to develop a better and more efficient method,” he said.

As part of the conclusions drawn from the exercise, a special document was drafted to present the techniques, which will be sent to officers throughout the IDF in order to assist in building a new combat doctrine for fighting against terror organizations.

“The Herev Battalion must teach the entire IDF how to fight effectively against Hezbollah,” said the, commander of the regional brigade to which the Herev Battalion is subordinate.

“There are additional adjustments to be made, but the technique proved itself during the exercise. We can already see how the fighters are now speaking a new language and that there is confidence in the methods that we tested,” .

Hezbollah growing bolder in its provocations

The new combat techniques were put to the test in the Herev Battalion’s most recent exercise, which took place last week and consisted of three days of non-stop fighting in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights. The exercise simulated the battalion’s role during combat while functioning as part of a full brigade, in order to train the commanders to cooperate with other forces.

The troops were accompanied by a tank platoon on their journey through the hilly terrain, while combat engineering teams cleared paths through the thick scrub and artillery forces provided suppressive fire that shook the northern Golan Heights. The goal of the method: provide so much fire that “the enemy cannot lift its head.”

The exercise simulated as closely as possible full-fledged combat in Lebanon, requiring the troops to deal with enemy rocket fire falling on their staging areas, sudden changes in mission plans and evacuating casualties in armored personnel carriers (APCs).

“It was a drill against Hezbollah in every respect and following [the exercise], I can say with certainty that the Herev Battalion is ready for anything,” said the commander

A senior officer in the sector explained last week that Hezbollah’s actions in southern Lebanon are becoming more and more aggressive. Israeli forces stationed on the border observe well how Hezbollah agents work around the clock in the villages of southern Lebanon to gather intelligence on the IDF.
The Herev Battalion, whose soldiers’ families live in northern Israel and are likely to be the first to suffer from a Hezbollah attack, continues to prepare for the “day after” on the sensitive Lebanese border.

“Changes in the region obligate us to be ready for war,” the regional brigade commander said at the end of the exercise. “For every eventuality that we will be needed, with the Herev Battalion I feel more confident than any other battalion.”

IAF intercepts UAV in Israeli airspace near Haifa

Date: 25/04/2013, 2:59 PM Author: IDF Website

An unmanned aerial vehicle was succesfully brought down by an Israel Air Force fighter jet off the coast of the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attempted to violate Israeli airspace from the north at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 22. The UAV was tracked by IDF ground and aerial surveillance for the duration of its flight path as it attempted to approach Israel's coast. Israel Air Force aircraft intercepted the UAV and successfully downed the target five nautical miles off the coast of the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

IDF naval forces are currently searching the area.

This is the second time in the past seven months that a UAV has been intercepted in Israeli airspace.


UAVs pose a serious threat to the State of Israel's security. The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to violate Israel's sovereignty or harm its security.


In October 2012 the IDF downed a UAV over the northern Negev. The UAV had infiltrated Israeli airspace from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea. The craft was identified by IDF control systems and was tracked for the length of its flight path in Israeli territory by ground and aerial surveillance, including IAF fighter jets. After several minutes, the craft was successfully brought down in the northern Negev desert, to avoid potential harm to a populated area.


During the Second Lebanon War in August 2006, Israel Air Force fighter jets intercepted two Ababil UAVs launched by Hezbollah toward Haifa. The UAVs were located and identified by the IAF's northern air-defense and aerial control units before it managed to cross the border from Lebanon into Israel. The UAVs were downed by F-16C fighter jets – one fell in the Mediterranean Sea in Lebanese territory while the other was taken down north of Haifa.

Discussion on the Status of "Nakba" Day

The Right to Demonstrate:
Israel believes in the right to demonstrate peacefully, whatever the object of the protest. However, violent rioting that endangers lives cannot be tolerated.


Meaning of "Nakba Day"
The so-called "Nakba Day" is not a protest against the 1967 "occupation", but a rejection of Israel's basic right to exist, as indicated by its being held on the day of Israel's Declaration of Independence. Instead of promoting a positive agenda of their own, the Palestinians display total negativism, relying on denial, exclusion and rejection of Israel.

On achieving peace:
The obvious needs to be stated again: an end to the conflict can only be achieved through negotiation, compromise and recognition, and not through violence, riots and unilateral moves.

The Infiltration of Israel:
Dozens of Syrian rioters ran over the border between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams, on the Golan Heights. The Israel Army, the IDF attempted to block this massive breach of the border with the utmost restraint.

This outburst of cross-border violence could not have taken place without the consent – or the active support – of the Syrian army, given its tight control of the border zone. This appears like an attempt by the Syrian regime to create a distraction from the violent crackdown it is currently carrying out throughout the country.

Violent riots in South Lebanon, including attempts to run over the border fence, are organized by Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanese proxy.

Now from the North

Today's unprovoked attack by the Lebanese army against the IDF, took place in Israeli territory along Israeli's Northern border. In some areas, there is a gap between the IDF security fence and the actual border, which is where this attack took place. IDF soldiers were conducting routine maintentce work including clearing bushes from the area. This sort of activity is crucial to keep an open line of sight, to prevent attacks and kidnappings, like the one in the summer of 2006, which was in a similar location.

And isn't it strange that reporters where on hand to film everything? - talk about a put up job!!!

Co-Existence, Israeli Style

I received a letter from my friend at a hospital in the North whcih again gives the example of what good relations between citizens in the area can mean and should mean. Oh, that the Gazans could learn from this.

A senior nurse who for the past eleven years has acted as the Transplant Coordinator between his hospital and the Israeli Ministry of Health’s National Transplant Center related the following story:

On November 26, 2008, a 54 year-old man was tragically pronounced brain dead here in the hospital. His wife, also a nurse at the hospital, immediately informed the transplant coordinator of her desire to donate her husband’s organs so that others may live.

Thus began intense communications between the hospital and the National Transplant Center, which culminated several hours later in coordinated operations (in several hospitals) that gave renewed life to seven Israelis. One received a liver, two received kidneys, two received heart valves and two received corneas. Among them were both Jews and Arabs; each a human being in desperate need of a medical miracle. This death gave life to others, people he never knew.

When asked what were the most emotionally-charged moments of the wife's long career as a nurse, without hesitation, she said, “The moment when a family agrees to donate their loved one’s organs to strangers. That precise instance is the most difficult moment in a person’s life … it’s the intersection where death meets life.”

The dead man, like hundreds of others, became unknowing heroes in their deaths. Their families gave the gift of renewed life to total strangers and lengthened an unbreakable thread that weaves throughout our society.

The Jewish commitment to life is exemplified the medical center’s absolute coordinated efforts between medical departments, physicians, nurses, technicians and administrative staff. The gift of life could not be delivered were it not for their combined timely efforts.

Dare we hope that one day in our lifetime the gift of life takes precedence over death as is promoted by the terrorists whose aim is to destroy Israel?

Dear World - I have some questions

In this morally corrupt world, a contact of mine states that Israel is not asking for admiration or special treatment! We simply demand the end of the double standard in treatment of Israel! Anti-Semitism must end! He poses the following questions:-

Why is it
- that someone can say they support national movements, and yet oppose Zionism?

- that are there 22 Arab countries and the world doesn't have a problem with that, yet throw one Jewish country in the mix and you think the world was about to end.

- that the world hears public calls for the destruction of Israel again and again and does not care and yet if Israel called for the destruction of her enemies just once, what would the reaction be?

- that Hezbollah has rearmed itself with over 40,000 rockets and missiles in Lebanon, since the end of the '06 war, in flagrant violation of UN resolution 1701, while the UNIFIL has done absolutely nothing to stop them.

- that someone go to bed on June 4, 1967 as a Jordanian and wake up the next day as a Palestinian?

- that it should be Israel's responsibility to be responsible for self-imposed 'refugees', who have been supporting those who intended to destroy Israel?

- that Jews living on the land of their ancestors, given by G-d, be condemned but Islamic terrorism aimed at destruction of the state of Israel is widely tolerated and quietly supported by the international community?"

- that in a test of "True Friendship", the United States has turned down Israeli requests for military assistance in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel would not be allowed to fly over Iraq. Therefore Israeli jets might not be able to carry powerful enough bombs to do the job. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Russian state-owned company building Iran's Bushehr reactor announced that the construction of the reactor will reach a state of "no return" by early 2009. Nuclear watchdog experts have found 50-60 tons of UF6, uranium in gas, enough to produce five or six nuclear bombs, missing from Iran's main nuclear production facility. (Russia has no problems with helping the terror state to acquire nuclear capability. The United States does not fight war on terror, but have been forging expensive, feel-good show! Israel must disregard the international hypocrisy and duplicity!)

- that we must care about public opinion? An international poll in 17 countries showed that 7% of participants believe that Israel was behind the September 11th attacks in the United States. A large 15% said that the Bush administration had organized the attacks.

- that any national or religious group in the United States and any other country, be it Irish or Muslims, has a pattern of voting for a political representation in the government, based on their special interests and affiliation. Only the loyalty of Jewish voters is constantly questioned. U.S.

- that "official Confirmed' Borders" according to James Wallace, American consul general in Jerusalem, (confirmed that American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel that negotiations for a new Arab country) are being based on the Israeli borders that existed between 1949 and 1967. (Why not the borders that were allocated by the League of Nations for creation of Eretz-Israel in July 1922? Does it mean that the US is prepared to negotiate with Mexico the return of the South-West which is still occupied and colonised by the United States? And why does the US have the right to tell Israel what is the Jewish land? The State Department is so thoughtful in its dealings with Arabs!)

- that it is business as usual for Russia with missiles purchased by Syria can strike almost the entire territory of Israel. (And Russia complains about the sale of defensive weapons by Israel to Georgia?) The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it intends to sell an anti-missile shield to the United Arab Emirates for the nice sum of $7 billion. (It is all about money!)

Two memorable events

In general with this blog, I try to focus on issues that I feel are not always adequately covered by the international media and therefore I hope to provide an alternative picture of what I see as the true lifestyle here in Israel.

This time I want to focus on a couple of events, that together with my wife, we enjoyed immensely and for several hours took our minds off the problems of Gaza and Hizbollah on our southern and northern borders.

Friends from the UK had decided some time ago to fund the writing of a new torah scroll and donate it to the Western Wall in Jerusalem http://english.thekotel.org/ .

As is customary, the completion of the last few words was done in a ceremony in which friends of the family each wrote one letter. On the conclusion of this writing, the scroll was “danced” from the beautiful hall adjacent to the Wall and on to the plaza in front of the Western Wall to the lively music of a band of musicians.

After almost an hour of dancing, the scroll was placed in its ark (cupboard) to be used for readings during the normal services and also on those special occasions when boys reaching the age of 13 have their barmitzvah celebrations at the Wall.










The guests then proceeded into the Western Wall Tunnel complex http://english.thekotel.org/content.asp?id=116 and after a fascinating walk down into the depths we reached the Hasmonean hall, see pictures, for a celebratory dinner. What an atmosphere there was, sitting there in a place of history thousands of years old. A night to remember.

The second event was the evening of the festival of Shavuot, (Pentecost). We had decided on this evening we would invite some friends for a meal. What started out as a small group gradually grew until there were 11 of us. The evening was very interesting as the guests were originally from USA, S.Africa, UK, Holland and Switzerland, quite an international gathering. Barely 48 hours earlier I had met a journalist first time visitor to Israel, a Roman Catholic from Ireland, who I felt would be interested in meeting people living here and so it was that he also joined us.

The conversation flowed non stop and it was almost midnight before the guests decided it was time to go home. Again an evening to remember,

Tourism on the Increase

The Central Bureau of Statistics is reporting a great start to tourism for the year 2008. The number of visitors was a whopping 57% above January 2007 and 34% above 2006. (In 2006 we were still feeling the effects of the Lebanon war in Jan 2007).

Of these visitors 27% more than in 2007 arrived by air and 100% more by land and sea.

One interesting statistic is that 5 times last years total entered the country for a one day trip. For those uncertain of what Israel is all about, a one day trip allows an overview which can give confidence in a longer trip at a later stage. Many of these visitors were from Russia, Poland and Ukraine, countries which offer a great potential for increased tourism this year.

Here in Haifa there is a clear indication of an increase in tourists with more coaches on the road visiting the usual tourist spots like the Bahai temple and the Druze villages of Issfiya and Daliat al Carmel.

A recent visit to one of the popular hotels in the city also had indications of a large group of visitors.

In spite of the threats around us from Hamas and Hizbollah, tourists still feel confident in the security arrangements in the country and are showing their confidence with the feet by coming here.

Education for Peace??

We are used to seeing excerpts from the children’s programs on TV in the Palestinian areas which advocate jihad and the destruction of the State of Israel. Now the children of southern Lebanon are also being indoctrinated through the use of computer games.

A local TV news program reports that a new computer game allows the players to raid Israel to capture soldiers, battle tanks in the valleys of southern Lebanon and launch Katyusha rockets at Israeli towns -- the game puts players on the frontline of war with the Jewish state. "Special Force 2" is based on last year's 34-day conflict between the Lebanese guerrilla group and Israel.

"This game presents the culture of the resistance to children: that occupation must be resisted and that land and the nation must be guarded," said a Hezbollah media official. But the Israeli Foreign Ministry responded by saying: ''It should come as a surprise to no one that Hezbollah teaches children that hatred and violence are positive attributes.''

Designed by Hezbollah computer experts, players of "Special Force 2" take the role of a Hezbollah fighter, or Mujahid. Weapons and points are accumulated by killing Israeli soldiers.
The game, launched on Thursday, recreates key phases of the conflict, which was triggered when Hezbollah forces raided northern Israel and captured two soldiers, saying they wanted to negotiate a prisoner swap.

Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group backed by Iran and Syria, declared the outcome of the conflict a "divine victory." "Through this game the child can build an idea of some of ... the most prominent battles and the idea that this enemy can be defeated," the spokesman said.

The 3-D game forces players to think and use their resources wisely, reflecting the way Hezbollah fights. "The features which are the secret of resistance's victory in the south have moved to this game so that the child can understand that fighting the enemy does not only require the gun.
"It requires readiness, supplies, armament, attentiveness, tactics."

And this is the way forward to peace???

The Rhetoric, like the Weather, is Hot

We are heading for another heatwave by the end of the week with temeratures here in Haifa heading for 37C (100F). The Palestinians in Gaza are suffering again at the hands of their leaders as the supply of electricity is the latest subject of conflict between Fatah and Hamas, while the European Union has frozen payments due to Hamas syphoning off some of the money for its own agenda. Meanwhile, some 600,000 citizens have little or no electricity.

Also a "hot" subject is the renewal of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, following the second Lebanon war last year.

Has it helped? I feel like most of my friends, very sceptical. Without getting into the siscussion of who won or lost, the fact is, that this resolution, like so many others has been only partially implemented, and the vital provisions have been left unattended :

1) South Lebanon was not demilitarized and Hezbollah and the other terrorist organizations remained and were not disarmed

2) Iran and Syria continue replenishing Hezbollah's arsenal and rehabilitating its military force

3) The arms embargo has not been effectively enforced and weapons are steadily smuggled into Lebanon from Syria

4) No significant progress has been made in the issue of the abducted IDF soldiers.

Further, Hizbullah is buying up large tracts of land owned by Christians and other non-Shias in southern Lebanon as the militant group rebuilds its defenses in preparation for a new war with Israel. The forested wadis, or valleys, north of the Litani River make ideal terrain for Hizbullah's brand of guerrilla warfare and, just 10 miles from the border, are within rocket range of Israeli cities.

"Christians and Druze are selling land and moving out, while the Shia are moving in. There is an extraordinary demographic shift taking place," said Edmund Rizk, a former Christian MP for the area. Wealthy Shia businessman Ali Tajeddine, who made his fortune trading diamonds in Sierra Leone, is said to be using Iranian funds to buy land from destitute villagers at up to four times the going rate.

Critics fear a grand scheme to create a strip of Shia-controlled land connecting southern Lebanon to Hizbullah's other power center in the Bekaa Valley. "It is part of Hizbullah's plan to create a state within a state," said Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader. He also pointed to the four-lane road being built to connect the Hizbullah stronghold of Nabatiye in the south to the western Bekaa. Banners openly proclaim the source of the road's funding: "510 km of new roads paid for by the Iranian Organization for Sharing in the Building of Lebanon."

Yes, there is cause for concern not just here in the north but throughout the whole country