Israel’s war on Covid-19 isn’t the only battle although the Covid war is still ongoing while the other two battles have yet to get nasty.
COVID-19, NUMBERS AND NEW RULES FOR TOURISTS
In Israel, since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, 1,327,458 cases of C-19 have been reported with 8,100 deaths and 7,823 current active cases with 218 serious cases. Of the serious cases, @130 on ventilators with 82% of them unvaccinated. The number of daily cases has fallen precipitously to @472 at 0.68% of those tested. Numbers far below the 10,000 a day back in July. Health experts credit Israel aggressive booster vaccination program with the stark downturn that, according to these experts, seems to have stemmed the tide of the C-19 delta variant.
The world numbers are 247,483,942 cases with 5,015,400 deaths and 24,900,805 active cases. The USA still leads the world with 46,823,938 cases, 766,299 deaths, and 9,342,326 active cases. However, according to the Washington Post, the USA is also experiencing a downturn with only 1,000 deaths reported daily from the virus. The US FDA has approved vaccines for children 5-11.
Following the FDA approval, Israel has also ordered vaccines from Pfizer for children 5-11. Israeli media sources speculate that since the Coronavirus Committee in Israel’s Knesset approved the 5-11 vaccines last week all that is now needed is Knesset approval which is expected in the coming days. The campaign to inoculate these children 5-11 should begin in a matter of weeks.
TRAVEL & C-19
For the first time since March 2020 Israel has opened her borders to tourists. As of Nov 1, 2021 vaccinated tourists, those vaccinated in the last 6 months, or those who have proof they have recovered from C-19, may now enter Israel. Even the Russian Sputnik V vaccine will be recognized, but a serology test will be required. Since Russian children have not been vaccinated they will not be allowed into Israel. Most travelers must wait 14 days from their last vaccine before being allowed into Israel. One shot is not enough to be allowed entry unless the traveller can prove they have had the virus and have recovered.
All travelers must take a PCRs test upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport and quarantine for 24 hours or until they receive a negative test result. Incoming passengers will receive a “green pass” granting entry to Israeli venues where such a document is required.
There are punishments for breaking the following rules: Those who arrived and test positive for C-19 will be taken to a government isolation facility for 14-days where they will stay at their own expense. Those infected who refuse isolation or break the rules will be denied entry to Israel for 5 years. Those caught with forged documents stating they are negative for C-19 will be banned for five years. Those who arrive and don’t abide by the 24 hour isolation rules and are caught will be banned for three years.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Israel’s Prime Minister Bennett attended the International Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. This, as the UN says the world has experienced the hottest 7 years in recorded history. Israel has reportedly experienced global warming twice that of the rest of the world.
WAR
Thomas Friedman, writing in the New York Times, believes that the next war in the middle east won’t be over political or religious differences but over water. He believes that unless global warning and climate change aren’t addressed, with monies put into desalinization plants and solar energy fields to power those plants, the scarce water supply in the middle east will be the cause for friction leading to armed conflicts.
However, Israelis have, according to the media, more immediate concerns. Writing an opinion piece on Ynetnews, Giora Eiland, IDF Major General (Ret.) and former head of the Israel National Security Council, now a senior research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies, said, “Iran poses an existential threat to Israel. In the last decade Iran has been the source of 80% of Israel’s security problems.
Eiland wrote that in 2013 former Prime Minister Netanyahu prepared plans to strike Iran’s nascent nuclear facility under the assumption that the USA would join Israel in fighting Iran should Iran strike back, which was considered inevitable. But that plan was scotched in 2015 when a nuclear armaments deal was reached between Iran and the USA, the UN and other countries.
Eiland said that Israel has to be prepared for an Iranian and Hezbollah strike or, alternatively, an attack by Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The chances of a direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran, or even Israel and Hezbollah, are slim, according to Eiland. However, Israel has no choice but to improve both its defense and attack capabilities, including cyber units. Recently, Iran’s gas station computer infrastructure was hit, shuttering gas stations across the country for nearly a week. Iran blamed Israel. Both countries have been engaged in cyber warfare for a few years.
Israel’s media has pointed out that verbal attacks on Iran are occurring on a daily basis. But, Amos Harel, writing in Haaretz, says that Israeli’s daily verbal attacks and warnings on Iran are falling on deaf ears in Washington. Still, some pundits speculate that these statements are an attempt to create an atmosphere of fear that will drive Iran back to the negotiating table. Iran has been stalling a return to negotiations while ostensibly continuing the development of nuclear weapons. Some Israeli experts say Iran is only months away from a nuclear weapon.
In a report by a Bahrain newspaper, Tal Kalman, chief of staff of the Israeli Air Force, alluded to a possible strike on Iran at a conference in Tel Aviv last week, should diplomatic efforts fail to curtail Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon. Kalman said Iran’s nuclear program represented a threat not only to Israel but to the entire world.
“We don’t want war. We don’t want conflict. We want to resolve this diplomatically. But when you have a side that is aggressive…building military capabilities, we have to be prepared for other scenarios. In January IDF Chief of staff Aviv Kohavi said the army was drawing up plans to strike Iran. The Israeli government has reportedly allocated billions of shekels to implement the plans.
According to Gen. Kalman, the recent Abraham Accords, peace agreements between Israel and moderate Arab countries, opened the way for these countries, Bahrain, the Emirates, Egypt and other countries, to form an alliance against extremists in the region like Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. All, according to Kalman, led by Iran.
According to Haretz’s Harel, even the cyber attack on Iran’s gas stations and a recent Israeli air force attack on a convoy of weapons near Damascus, Syria that was headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon, were all attempts to get the attention of US President Biden in order for him to increase the pressure on Iran to come back to the negotiating table. This, even though US Sec of State Blinken has said that all options to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon are still under consideration.
Some observers point out that PM Bennet, in Scotland for the Climate Change conference, bringing up the Iranian threat even at that conference. Bennett is quoted as saying that Iran is still a major problem for the world.
News sources are now showing Israel’s top secret nuclear sites, containing what are considered to be Israeli missiles armed with nuclear warheads. Lately, secret weapons like the “Tamuz”, a smart guided missile with a range of 24 kilometers (@15 miles) that can be fired from a tank or an Apache helicopter at an opposing tank, or even a car carrying enemy terrorists, have made their way to the media. Reportedly, this system, has been sold to 38 countries around the world.
Pundits opined that the flurry of information of Israel’s military capability is linked to the almost daily threats against Iran. Even US Sec of State Anthony Blinken has said that the US is considering other options to stop Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon should Iran not return to the negotiating table. Biden has also warned that the US will respond to Iranian attacks including those by drones that recently hit an American base situated at the a remote al-Tanf outpost in Syria, where the US is training Syrian forces to counter Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad forces.
Media reports point out that Iran also attacked US forces in January 2020 when a barrage of ballistic missiles hit the al-Asad air base in Iraq. More than 100 US service members received traumatic brain injuries as a result of the blasts. That Iranian attack was supposedly in response to a drone strike earlier that month that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and an Iraqi militia leader.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, referring to the attack on US forces in al-Tanf, “…if there is to be a response, it will be at a time and a place and a manner of our choosing.:.”
Iran, for her part, recently held a parade showing her long range missiles. Iranian politicians have also replied to these implicit threats with threats of their own of vast destruction of enemies of Iran. Iran linked hackers recently leaked personal data from an Israeli LGBT dating site.
This cold war of words and hot cyber warfare may lead to a diplomatic resolution. Iran has said they are willing to return to the negotiations but have so far made demands the other side considers unrealistic.
According to media reports, Iran, which has stalled indirect negotiations with the United States in Vienna regarding a mutual return to the nuclear deal, said last week that it would soon announce a resumption of negotiations to take place by the end of November.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, according to an article in the Times of Israel that,, “The US is in full agreement with its allies on bringing Iran back into compliance with the nuclear deal, including willingness to look at “all of the options necessary” if diplomacy doesn’t work.
Recently, Israel held a large multi-national air force exercise that even included Jordan, in what observers say was a rehearsal for an attack on Iran. Also, the Israeli army conducted large-scale exercises in the north preparing for possible battle with Hezbollah. Israel even called up reserve soldiers as a mock emergency to simulate a war and, according to experts, be better prepared than they were last May.
